Objective:

The study purpose was to compare unilateral biportal endoscopic lumbar interbody fusion (ULIF) with minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) for the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases in terms of surgical trauma and short- to medium-term postoperative results.

Methods:

Forty-nine patients with lumbar degenerative diseases (25 underwent ULIF, 24 underwent MIS-TLIF) who were treated between May 2019 and October 2021, were included in this retrospective analysis. We compared the two groups’ blood loss, serum C-reactive protein (CRP), visual analog scale (VAS) scores for low back and leg pain, and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) score and slip percentage (SP). The modified Macnab score was obtained at the last follow-up.

Results:

On the postoperative day, the CRP levels (P<0.05) were considerably lower in the ULIF group than those in the MIS-TLIF group. In addition, the ULIF group had significantly decreased intraoperative blood loss (P=0.00) and postoperative blood loss (P=0.00). After surgery, there was significant improvement in both groups in the VAS scores for low back and leg pain, and in the ODI scores (P<0.05). Two weeks after surgery, the ODI and VAS scores for low back pain of the ULIF group were considerably lower than those of the MIS-TLIF group (P<0.05). The excellent and good rates of the Macnab criteria between the two groups were not significantly different at the last follow-up (P=0.95).

Conclusions:

The ULIF technique can effectively treat short-segment lumbar degenerative diseases and is a feasible alternative to the traditional minimally invasive surgery.