Objective To evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of pleural infusion chemotherapy with docetaxel in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion. Methods Twenty-three patients with malignant tumor confirmed by biopsy or postoperative pathology, complicated with malignant pleural effusion confirmed by exfoliative cytology, were treated between March 2013 and June 2014. All the 23 patients underwent thoracic puncture and catheter drainage for the removal of contraindications for chemotherapy. Then, pleural infusion chemotherapy was performed with docetaxel (40 mg/m2), normal saline (250 mL) and dexamethasone (10 mg), 21 days as a cycle. Before pleural infusion chemotherapy with docetaxel, all the patients were given standard pretreatment with dexamethasone, cimetidine/ranitidine or promethazine. The efficacy and safety of the treatment were evaluated in each cycle. Results Among the 23 selected patients, 6 were evaluated as complete remission and 11 as partial remission, with an effective rate of 73.91%. All the patients had acceptable tolerance in the process of the treatment. The most common side effects were bone marrow suppression (78.26%), and nausea and vomiting (82.61%). No such complications as allergy, fluid retention, cardiac toxicity or degree-Ⅳ adverse reactions were detected. Conclusion Pleural infusion chemotherapy with docetaxel in the treatment of malignant pleural effusion is effective with mild adverse reactions, which is worthy to be popularized.