Surgerical treatment has been used for portal hypertension over a hundred years, and has evolved from various portosystemic shunts to devascularizations and selective shunts. Selective shunting, which has the advantages of long-term prevention from recurrent variceal bleeding and maintenance of hepatic portal vein perfusion, has developed from single distal splenorenal shunt to various procedures including distal splenocaval shunt, coronary caval shunt, coronary renal shunt, etc. Selective shunting can also be achieved after reconstruction of spontaneous portosystemic shunt. Preoperative portal venous system CT angiography, intraoperative ultrasound Doppler and portal vein pressure measurements may provide patients with a more reasonable treatment of choice.