Backgroud：Previous studies have shown that ischemia preconditioning is a powerful protective intervention to the ischemia -reperfusion injury，but its clinical application has been limited by the time to intervention and ethical consideration. In recent years, several studies have found that opioid preconditioning and postconditioning ，which are more feasible and inexpernsive ，also has a protective effect. Objective： We need more studies before the clinical applications,. In this paper, opioids were reviewed in the development process as well as its mechanism and clinical application. Content：The different ways opioids alleviate ischemia-reperfusion injury and its mechanism. Trend：opioids can alleviate ischemia-reperfusion injury in a feasible way，so it may be a research hotspot in the future treatment.