To explore the incidence and causes of early unplanned secondary surgery after percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy.

The clinical data of 1 627 patients who underwent percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy in Peking University Third Hospital from Dec. 2014 to Feb. 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, and the patients who underwent early unplanned secondary surgery were screened out.

Early unplanned secondary surgery was performed in 58 patients (3.56%). The main reasons for early unplanned secondary surgery are the persistent non-remission of postoperative symptoms or the lack of obvious remission and early postoperative recurrence. In this study, the incidence of early unplanned secondary surgery decreased with the increase of operation year and the accumulation of surgical cases, and the incidence of early unplanned secondary surgery was statistically significant with the number of surgical cases.

The incidence of early unplanned second surgery after was 3.56%. Early unplanned secondary surgery is associated with residual pressure and early recurrence. The experience of the surgeon is a factor that affects the early unplanned secondary surgery.