Distal radius fractures (DRFs) are one of the most common injuries in orthopaedics, accounting for up to 20% of all fractures seen in the emergency room. At present, the optimal treatment of these fractures remains controversial. Although most DRFs can be treated non-operatively, such as immobilized by plaster, splint or brace, surgical management has become more and more popular with people's living standards improved and expecting better functional outcome. Surgical treatments for DRFs include percutaneous fixation with Kirschner wires, skeletal external fixation, open reduction and internal fixation, intramedullary nails, fixation using the miniinvasive approach, arthroscopy, and total wrist arthroplasty. Currently, open reduction with volar plate fixation is the most popular and widely way for DRFs, while a mini-invasive approach is a new reliable and reproducible procedure with few complications. Despite recently surgical treatment has become more and more popular, it is also unclear whether surgical intervention will produce better long-term outcomes. The aim of this paper is to present the studies in the literatures about the treatment for DRFs and an update of existing techniques.