Objective To summarize the general concept of lateral wall, the causes of lateral wall injury, and surgical strategies in order to improve the understanding of lateral wall and reduce the complications of operation. Methods The related literature on lateral wall was extensively reviewed, summarized, and analyzed. Results The superior extent of the lateral wall is vastus lateralis ridge and the inferior extent is the intersection between the lateral femoral cortex and a line drawn at a tangent to the inferior femoral neck. The integrity of the lateral wall is important to prevent the failure of fixation and reoperation of intertrochanteric fractures. The main causes of injury are that there is no suitable typing criteria as a guide, the fracture pattern shown by X-ray does not match with the actual situation of the fracture, the type of fracture is special, and the operation is improper. The main treatment is to reconstruct the lateral wall and choose different reconstruction methods according to different fracture patterns. Conclusion The lateral wall is very important for the treatment of intertrochanteric fracture. Lateral wall fracture should be internal fixation in order to minimize the risk of reoperation.