Objective  To investigate the clinical effect of percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy on treatment of patients with single-segment lumbar disc herniation.

  Methods  Totally 100 patients with single-segment lumbar disc herniation were divided into two groups according to different surgical procedures, with 50 cases in each group. The control group underwent posterior lumbar discectomy under discoscopy, while the observation group underwent percutaneous transforaminal discectomy. The surgical effects, pain, lumbar vertebral function and complications before and after operation were compared between the two groups.

  Results  The bleeding volume, incision length, bed rest time and hospitalization time of the patients in the observation group were significantly better than those in the control group (P < 0.05). The incidence rate of complications in the observation group was 4.00%, which was significantly lower than 18.00% in the control group (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in pre-operative visual analogue score (VAS), dysfunction index (ODI) scores before and 1 month after operation between the two groups (P>0.05). One month after operation, the VSA score of the observation group was significantly lower than that of the control group (P < 0.05).

  Conclusion  Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy is effective in treatment of patients with single-segment lumbar disc herniation.