Groove pancreatitis (GP) is a type of chronic pancreatitis that mainly affects the groove area of the pancreas. Owing to its insidious onset, most physicians lack a basic understanding of GP, thus easily leading to a misdiagnosis. The pathogenesis of GP is still unclear, and its clinical manifestations are very similar to those of pancreatic carcinoma, which mainly include postprandial upper abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and progressive weight loss. At present, there is no unified diagnostic criteria. For highly suspected GP, some scholars suggest a staged treatment method. Therefore, the authors discuss the latest advances in GP research by extracting the relevant literature, so as to improve the diagnosis and treatment of this condition.