The registration of preoperative three-dimensional (3D) medical images with intraoperative two-dimensional (2D) data is a key technology for image-guided radiotherapy, minimally invasive surgery, and interventional procedures. In this paper, we review 3D-2D registration methods using computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) as preoperative 3D images and ultrasound, X-ray, and visible light images as intraoperative 2D images. The 3D-2D registration techniques are classified into intensity-based, structure-based, and gradient-based according to the different registration features. In addition, we investigated the different application scenarios of this registration technology in medical clinical treatment, which can be divided into disease diagnosis, surgical guidance and postoperative evaluation, and also investigated the evaluation method of 3D-2D registration effect.