Bone is an important organ to maintain exercise and protect the organs. As a common orthopedic disease in clinics, bone defect is still one of the main challenges in clinical practice due to the large damage caused by the long treatment cycle. Nowadays, with the increasing incidence of bone disease in the elderly, the demand for bone repair materials is also increasing. Clinical treatments for bone defects include non-invasive treatments and invasive treatments. Surgical treatment is the most effective method to treat bone defects, such as the use of bone transplantation, Masquelet technique, Ilizarov technique, etc. In recent years, the rapid development in tissue engineering technology has provided new therapeutic strategies for bone repair. This article details the current situation and challenges of the clinical treatment of bone defect repair, and reviews the research progress of bone defect treatment in recent years.