Objective:To observe the clinical effect on upper limb swelling following surgery of distal radius fracture treated with external application of mirabilite. Methods60 patients with swelling following surgery of distal radius fracture were randomly divided into the treatment and control group,30 cases in each group. Based on conventional rehabilitation training after surgery, sodium aescinate was intravenously injected in the control group, while the treatment group was treated with external application of mirabilite additionally, with a course of 28 days. The diameter of wrist joint, visual analogue scale (VAS) of pain and Gartland-Werley (G-W) scores of wrist were recorded and compared in both group.  Results:①Compared within group before and after treatment,the difference of the diameter of wrist joint in both groups was statistically significant (P<0.05)；compared between groups before and after treatment,the difference of the diameter of wrist joint was statistically significant,and the reduction of diameter in the treatment group was more significant than that in the control group(P<0.05).②Compared within group before and after treatment,the difference of VAS of pain and G-W scores of wrist in both groups were statistically significant (P<0.05)；while compared between groups before and after treatment,these differences were not statistically significant (P>0.05).  Conclusion:There was significant effect on upper limb swelling following surgery of distal radius fracture treated with external application of mirabilite. Meanwhile it avoided the side effects and adverse reactions of intravenous administration.