Lumbar disc herniation is one of the common orthopedic diseases. Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has gradually become a first-line surgical approach. Compared with open discectomy and open lumbar microdiscectomy, PELD has shorter operation time, less bleeding and lower complication rate, but the postoperative recurrence rate is relatively high and the learning curve is steep. Unilateral biportal endoscopic discectomy and full endoscopic transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion may be effective supplements to PELD. New technologies such as the combination of navigation and 3D printing technology, multi-mode nonlinear optical microscope, the combination of nuclear magnetic resonance imaging and artificial intelligence (such as deep learning and convolution neural network) will help to improve the accuracy of positioning and tissue discrimination of PELD, predict the surgical difficulty and postoperative recurrence, shorten the learning curve, and promote the popularization and application of PELD.

Diskectomy, percutaneous; Endoscopy; Intervertebral disc displacement; Lumbar vertebrae