Biliary tract diseases are a common type of hepatobiliary diseases in China and have a relatively high incidence rate， and related complications are important influencing factors for the health of Chinese patients. Biliary stents are mainly used to alleviate and relieve benign or malignant biliary stricture and obstruction， with the features of little trauma， high safety， and in line with the physiological and anatomical structure of biliary tract， and it has become the preferred palliative treatment method for biliary obstruction caused by unresectable pancreaticobiliary tumors. However， there is still a lack of satisfactory treatment outcomes since commonly used biliary stents have the shortcomings such as bacterial adhesion， cholestasis， stent obstruction， and stent migration. In recent years， scholars have conducted extensive and in－depth studies on the causes of biliary stent obstruction， the improvement of stent design， and the extension of drainage duration and have made certain progress. This article reviews the types， advantages and disadvantages， and development history of biliary stents and proposes the future research directions and application value of biliary stents.