Cerebral small vessel disease（ cSVD）， which accounts for 20%-25% of stroke， is closely related to stroke recurrence， apathy， epilepsy， post-stroke depression and increased mortality. It is considered to be a sign of poor prognosis of stroke， and further study of cSVD is beneficial to the prevention and treatment of stroke. Transcranial Doppler ultrasound（ TCD） is a noninvasive method for detecting intracranial vascular lesions， which has been widely favored by clinical doctors due to its simple operation and economic application. It is a reliable method for early diagnosis of intracranial arterial lesions， and can provide an objective hemodynamic basis for the selection of treatment methods for intracranial lesions. Clinically， hemodynamic abnormalities caused by cSVD can be detected by TCD， and the degree of abnormalities can indirectly reflect the severity of cSVD， providing help for further understanding of cSVD. This article reviews the progress of TCD in the detection of small cerebral vascular disease.