The endobronchial ultrasound guided tranbronchial needle aspiration (EBUS-TBNA) is commonly used in the diagnosis and staging of lymphatic metastasis of lung cancer. However, its reliability on the diagnosis of recurrence is still unclear. This study was aimed to evaluate the effect of EBUS-TBNA on the diagnosis of recurrence in post-surgery patients with lung cancer. 40 post surgery patients with lung cancer who were suspected of recurrence, and received EBUS-TBNA from Jun. 1, 2014 to Jul. 31, 2015 in Shanghai Chest Hospital were included in the retrospective study. EBUS-TBNA negative patients were further examined by means of mediastinoscopy or CT/PET-CT after 6 months follow up. The sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and diagnostic accuracy were calculated according to standard definitions. Among 40 patients, there were, by EBUS-TBNA diagnosis, 32 recurrence cases (80%) and 8 non-recurrence cases (8%). While after mediastinoscopy examination or CT/PET-CT examination after 6 months follow-up, out of the 8 cases, there were 2 recurrence cases and 6 non-recurrence cases. For EBUS-TBNA diagnosis on recurrence, the sensitivity was 94.1%, the specificity was 100%, the positive predictive value was 100%, the negative predictive value was 75% and the accuracy rate was 95%. No serious complications related to the procedures were observed. EBUS-TBNA could be considered as a feasible, safe and promising procedure to diagnose recurrence in post-surgery patients with lung cancer.