Neutrophil recruitment/infiltration is a characteristic manifestation of pulmonary inflammatory diseases and is the first line of defense against pathogenic microbial invasion in the lungs, killing pathogenic microorganisms mainly through phagocytosis. However, new research has found that neutrophils can form a network called neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) that are DNA-based and inlaid with a large amount of active protein. This biological structure can capture and kill pathogenic microorganisms. Although it is beneficial for lung inflammatory diseases in terms of the biological function of NETs, more and more studies have shown that NETs have direct cytotoxic effects on lung epithelial cells and endothelial cells, and may promote the lung inflammatory diseases. In order to systematically understand the relationship between NETs and lung-related inflammatory diseases, this review first briefly describes the structure, function and formation process of NETs, and then describes the relationship of NETs and asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, bacterial pneumonia, tuberculosis, cystic fibrosis, interstitial lung disease, influenza virus infection and acute lung injury, finally summarizes the potential research directions and targeted treatment strategies of NETs in pulmonary inflammatory diseases.