The paper studies surface modification of medical poly(vinyl chloride) (PVC) by remote argon plasma and characterized surface structure, performance of treated PVC by the water contact angle measurement, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Results show that the remote argon plasma makes the surface of the PVC film higher hydrophilic than the direct argon plasma and does not give remarkable degradation on the PVC film surface. The hydrophilicity depends on sample position as well as the RF power and the plasma exposure time. The remote argon plasma contributes more effectively to the dechlorination (CVC = 0.01) from the PVC film than the direct argon plasmas (Cl/C = 0.03) and more effectively to the formation oxygen functionalities on the PVC film surface. These experimental results show the possibility that remote argon plasma treatment can enhance interaction reactions with argon radicals relative to those with electron and argon ions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.