• Zhangfu Li, Honghao Yang, Yaoshen Zhang, Chaofan Han, Yuzeng Liu, Li Guan, Jincai Yang, Yong Hai, and Aixing Pan.
• Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Beijing Chaoyang Hospital, Capital Medical University of China, 8 Gong Ti Nan Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100020, China.
• Eur Spine J. 2024 Jun 1; 33 (6): 215421652154-2165.

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to investigate the learning curve of percutaneous endoscopic transforaminal discectomy (PETD) and interlaminar unilateral biportal endoscopic discectomy (UBED) in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH).MethodsBetween 2018 and 2023, 120 consecutive patients with lumbar disc herniation (LDH) treated by endoscopic lumbar discectomy were retrospectively included. The PETD group comprised 87 cases, and the UBED group comprised 33 cases. Cumulative sum analysis was used to evaluate the learning curve, with the occurrence of complications or unresolved symptoms defined as surgical failure, and variables of different phases of the learning curve being compared.ResultsThe learning curve analysis identified the cutoff point at 40 cases in the PETD group and 15 cases in the UBED group. In the mastery phase, both PETD and UBED demonstrated a significant reduction in operation times (approximately 38 min for PTED and 49 min for UBED). In both PETD and UBED groups, the surgical failure rates during the learning and mastery phases showed no statistically significant differences. The visual analogue scale at the last follow-up was significantly lower than before surgery in both the PETD and UBED groups.ConclusionPETD and UBED surgery are effective in the treatment of LDH with a low incidence of complications. However, achieving mastery in PETD necessitates a learning curve of 40 cases, while UBED requires a minimum of 15 cases to reach proficiency.© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

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