The thoracic surgery has increased drastically in recent years, especially in the light of the severe outbreak of 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Routine “passive” computed tomography of the chest screening of inpatients detects some pulmonary disease requiring thoracic surgeries timely. As an essential equipment for thoracic anesthesia, the double-lumen tube (DLT) in precise position is particularly important for anesthesia and surgery. With the continuous up-grading of the DLTs and the widespread use of the fiberoptic bronchoscopy (FOB), the position of DLT in thoracic surgery is gradually becoming more stable and easier to observe or adjust. However, for reasons such as transferring the patient to the lateral position, the DLT malposition still occurs in thoracic surgery, leading to lung isolation failure and hypoxemia during one-lung ventilation (OLV). Recently some innovative DLTs based on traditional have shown good results in reducing the incidence of DLT malposition, and some studies also found a lower malposition rate through improved intervention methods. This review aims to discuss and summarize the recent rates of left-sided DLT malposition, the reasons and effects of malposition, and to sum up current methods of reducing DLT malposition as well as prospects for possible approaches. Meanwhile, we use bibliometric analysis to summarize the research trends and hot spots of the DLT research.