Background: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of infection prevention care on the drainage of malignant pleural effusion (MPE) by indwelling Central venous catheterization (CVC).Methods: From January 2016 to January 2018, 128 patients at our hospital who needed indwelling CVC for drainage of MPE were randomly divided into an infection prevention group and a conventional group.The corresponding nursing plan was given to compare the 2 groups in several measures, including nursing effect and complications.Results: After intervention, the total effective rate of the infection prevention group was 96.88%, while the total effective rate of the conventional group was 87.50%, which was a statistically significant difference (P<0.05). The disappearance time of pleural effusion, catheter indwelling time, and length of stay in the infection prevention group were significantly lower than those in the conventional group (P<0.05). The incidence of infection and the total incidence of all complications in the infection prevention group were significantly lower than those in the conventional group (P<0.05). The proportion of the number of cases with Karnofsky Performance Scale (KPS) ≤10 in the infection prevention group was significantly lower than that in the conventional group (P<0.05).Conclusions: As infection prevention care significantly improves clinical efficacy and reduces the occurrence of complications, it uses in clinic is warranted.