Palliative surgery does not aim to cure, but refers to surgery where the tumor cannot be completely removed and the patient is given a modified surgery to relieve pain and alleviate symptoms. Palliative surgery can improve the quality of life of patients and prolong the survival cycle. Patients with malignant tumors that cannot be completely removed or tumors that have metastasized and cannot be resected can undergo palliative surgery to just relieve the symptoms caused by the tumor. More common is intracranial tumor. Patients with multiple intracranial tumors leading to increased intracranial pressure and severe cerebral edema need to undergo debulking surgery for decompression, which can reduce intracranial pressure, improve the symptoms of brain herniation and play a role in prolonging the late life of patients with malignant tumors. In addition, for patients with gastrointestinal tract, liver tumor and biliary tract tumor, the tumor is located in an important area and has metastasized, and the patient is older and in poor physical condition, and cannot directly do surgery to remove the tumor, anastomosis of bile duct, bile duct, common bile duct and jejunum can be performed to reduce the effect of jaundice and alleviate the symptoms to prolong life. Symptoms caused by intestinal obstruction can be improved by bilateral intestinal anastomosis, called coexistence with tumor, which can relieve patients’ symptoms, relieve their pain and improve their quality of life, and is a better method for patients with advanced tumor. Palliative surgery is a surgical procedure to relieve the fatal threat of tumor to patients, including palliative tumor resection and reduction surgery, both of which can win survival time and ensure the quality of life for patients. However, post-surgical trauma affects the patient’s body more, and the patient’s immunity will be lowered after surgery, which will take longer time to recover and cause infection easily. Therefore, patients should choose surgical procedures with less trauma and faster recovery, and strive to achieve postoperative recovery within a short period of time so that they can receive interventional, chemotherapy, radiotherapy and other treatments.