Objective To investigate the effect of acitretin capsules combined with calcipotriol ointment on PASI score in patients with psoriasis. Methods A total of 62 patients with psoriasis admitted to Xinyi Center for Disease Control and Prevention from January 2023 to October 2024 were selected as the research subjects. According to different treatment methods, they were divided into the control group and the study group, with 31 patients in each group. The control group was treated with acitretin capsules, and the study group was treated with calcipotriol ointment on the basis of the control group. The PASI scores, clinical efficacy and adverse reactions were compared between the two groups. Results After treatment, the PASI scores of upper limbs, lower limbs, trunk and head in the study group were (2.03±0.57)scores, (3.99±0.45)scores, (3.23±0.54)scores and (1.58±0.47)scores, respectively, which were lower than (2.98±0.76)scores, (5.87±0.56)scores, (4.15±0.61)scores and (2.26±0.57)scores in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (P <0.05). The total treatment effective rate of the study group was 100.00%, which was higher than 80.65% of the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (P <0.05). There was no significant difference in the incidence of adverse reactions between the two groups (P> 0.05). Conclusion The combined application of the two drugs can improve the PASI score of psoriasis patients, improve clinical efficacy, and has good safety.