Partial or complete blockage of the bile outflow tract by extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma often leads to jaundice, which not only causes skin itching in patients, but also destroys the body environment through a series of pathophysiological processes, reduces the surgical tolerance of patients with resectable tumors, and affects the prognosis. Preoperative jaundice reduction can reduce jaundice and relieve biliary obstruction, but the various complications that follow will also adversely affect the treatment. This article elaborates on the disadvantages of different methods for jaundice reduction, the indications for preoperative jaundice reduction, the jaundice reduction options for different types of extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, the complications and treatment methods of preoperative jaundice reduction for extrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, aiming to provide a reference for clinicians, so that patients can better benefit from preoperative jaundice reduction.