Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD) is a worldwide prevalent lung disease that constitutes the primary cause of death in older people. Management of COPD is multimodal and individualized, aiming to improve quality of life and longevity. Surgical interventions are the appropriate options for patients with COPD who have undergone optimal medication but have no significant symptom relief, such as lung volume reduction surgery (LVRS), lung transplantation, bullectomy, and bronchoscopic lung volume reduction (BLVR). We will review the published studies and discuss the characteristics and cost-effectiveness of these interventions, offer the optimal subgroup for surgical treatments, and indicate the shortcomings of the available research in this article.