Objective To investigate the clinical efficacy of unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE) versus traditional open surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH). Methods A total of 80 patients with LDH were selected as the research subjects, and they were divided into study group or control group according to the random number table method, with 40 cases in each group. The study group was treated with UBE, whereas the control group was treated with traditional open surgery. The operation duration, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative drainage volume, postoperative length of hospital stay, 1⁃year postoperative clinical efficacy, postoperative complications, preoperative and postoperative Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score for low back pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) score, and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score for lumbar vertebra were compared between the two groups. Results The operation duration, intraoperative bleeding volume, postoperative drainage volume, and postoperative length of hospital stay in the study group were shorter or less than those in the control group (P<0.05). The VAS score for low back pain and ODI score of the two groups exhibited a trend of decreasing with time prolonging, and the JOA score for lumbar vertebra depicted a trend of increasing with time prolonging; furthermore, 3 days and 1 month after operation, the VAS score for low back pain and ODI score in the study group were lower than those in the control group, and the JOA score for lumbar vertebra was higher than that in the control group (P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in 1-year postoperative clinical efficacy and postoperative complications between the two groups (P>0.05). Conclusion UBE has the same clinical efficacy as traditional open surgery for the treatment of LDH patients 1 year after operation, both of which can effectively ameliorate the patients' low back pain symptoms, lumbar function and lumbar vertebra function. However, UBE has less trauma, shorter operation duration and postoperative length of hospital stay, less intraoperative bleeding volume and postoperative drainage volume, slighter early postoperative low back pain symptoms, faster recovery of postoperative activities of daily living and lumbar vertebra function as compared with traditional open surgery, exerting a higher safety.

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