Epidural spinal cord stimulation (ESCS) uses electrodes which can be implanted in the spinal canal to stimulate central neural system directly. At first, ESCS is applied in chronic pain inhibition. Up to now, ESCS has been widely used in the recovery of motor function and diagnosis of nervous system diseases and become a research hotspot in neural interface and rehabilitation engineering. Through summarizing the research history of ESCS in pain inhibition and motor function recovery, this article discusses the mechanism of ESCS and the optimization of the stimulation parameters. Then by emphasizing the application of ESCS in motor function recovery, the attention focuses on the study of implantable stimulator applied in motor function. Finally, the article gives a brief introduction on future development of ESCS.