Objective To explore the efficacy of two treatment methods for thoracic tuberculosis.Methods According to the different surgical methods,61 patients with thoracic tuberculosis were randomly divided into A group (31 cases) and B group (30 cases).A group was treated with simple thoracic tuberculosis soft tissue lesions removed,and B group was treated with focus removal + rib resection + muscle flap packing.The operation time,pain time,extubation time,hospital stay,wound fluid,cure rate and recurrence rate were compared between the two groups.Results The operation time,pain time,hospital stay time of A group were shorter than those of B group [(35.0 ± 11.0)minvs.(50.0 ±9.5)min,(1.8±1.3)d vs.(4.2 ±2.4)d,(12.5 ±3.4)d vs.(18.8 ±5.7)d],the differences were statistically significant (t =6.257,4.275,5.334,all P ＜ 0.05).There were no statistically significant differences in the extubation time,wound effusion,cure rate and recurrence rate between the two groups [(5.8 ± 3.1) d vs.(5.5 ± 2.8) d,2 cases vs.1 case,100.0％ vs.100.0％,6.4％ vs.3.3％,t =8.691,x2 =9.867,13.674,15.871,all P ＞ 0.05].Conclusion Analysis of the specific situation should be individualized on the chest wall tuberculosis,in the case of rib destruction,the focus should be removed + rib resection + muscle flap packing,if there is no rib destruction,simple chest wall tuberculosis soft tissue lesions removal is more safe,because it is less traumatic for patients.