Objective To investigate the safety and efficacy of preoperative ultra-short-course chemotherapy combined with surgical treatment of chest wall tuberculosis. Methods The clinical data of 216 patients with chest wall tuberculosis from January 2013 to June 2016 in our hospital were retrospectively analyzed, including 121 males and 95 females with an average age of 35±15 years (range, 4-74 years). Results All patients were treated with anti-tuberculosis drugs for 17.0±11.3 days preoperatively, including 12.5±5.0 days in simple chest wall tuberculosis and 19.4±12.3 days in combined chest wall tuberculosis. The postoperative recurrence rate of chest wall tuberculosis was 3.7%, which was close to or lower than that of routine preoperative antituberculous therapy in patients with ultra-short-course anti-tuberculosis treatment before surgery. Conclusion Preoperative ultra-short-course chemotherapy combined with surgical treatment for chest wall tuberculosis will not increase the recurrence rate of chest wall tuberculosis, and can effectively shorten the hospital stay. Timely adjustment of anti-tuberculosis chemotherapy based on thorough debridement, postoperative drugs, not the preoperative drugs, is the key to reinforce the surgical outcome.