Ulcerative colitis (UC) is characterized by a life-long chronic course with remissions and exacerbations. Use of biological therapies may reduce or delay the surgical procedures in patients with UC. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of infliximab (IFX) use on the rate of remission, surgical interventions, and the effect on quality of life in patients with moderate to severe UC. Literature was searched for studies that investigated the efficacy of IFX on the rate of remission, colectomy and quality of life (QoL) between January 1990 and June 2012 at MEDLINE, January 1988 and June 2012 at EMbase and others. Eleven trials were included in the meta-analysis; divided into placebo controlled 8 trials and intravenous corticosteroid controlled group 3 trials. In comparison to placebo control groups, patients who received IFX had an odds ratio (OR) of 3.712 (95% CI: 2.714, 5.079) for the short-term clinical remission, and 3.053 (95% CI: 2.044, 4.559) for the rate of long-term remission. In colectomy rate and quality of life (QoL), odds ratio were 0.566(95% CI: 0.387, 0.827) and 0.658 (0.505, 0.811) respectively. Any adverse reactions including infections, infusion reaction, rash and arthralgia were equivalent in both groups. Compared with intravenous corticosteroid controlled group, patients who received IFX had lower remission rate with short-term odds ratio 0.227 (95% CI: 0.033, 1.556) and long-term odds ratio 1.054 (95% CI: 0.317, 3.502) respectively. However, statistical significance was not showed with both two analyses. The higher adverse drug reaction (ADR) rates were occurred in the corticosteroid controlled groups. 73.3% of patients treated corticosteroid reported Cushing-like syndrome with moon face. In conclusion, IFX does increase remission rate and decrease the rate of colectomy in patients with UC without elevating any adverse reactions significantly. IFX also improves QoL in moderate to severe UC patients. It would not exceed the efficacy of intravenous corticosteroid, whereas intravenous corticosteroid also reported high rate of adverse reactions.