Objective To investigate the effect of percutaneous unilateral biportal endoscopic discectomy (UBED) in treating lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and the influence on clinical symptoms and lumbar function. Methods A total of 127 patients with LDH who were admitted to the hospital from January 2021 to January 2022 were reviewed. Among them, patients treated with fenestration discectomy and those treated with UBED were defined as the fenestration group (59 cases) and the UBED group (68 cases). Clinical symptoms, lumbar function, inflammatory factor levels and clinical effects were compared between groups. Results The operation time in the fenestration group was shorter than that in the UBED group, and the average C-arm fluoroscopy frequency was higher than that in the UBED group (P＜0.05) Intraoperative blood loss of the fenestration group was more than that of the UBED group, but the difference was not statistically significant (P＞0.05) The Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for postoperative low back pain and lower limb pain and modified Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores in the UBED group were significantly lower than those in the fenestration group (P＜0.05)The Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) scores were significantly higher than those in the fenestration group (P＜0.05)The levels of interleukin (IL-1β), tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and matrix metalloproteinase 3 (MMP-3) in the UBED group on day 3 after operation were significantly lower than those in the fenestration group (P＜0.05)The excellent and good rate of clinical efficacy in the UBED group was higher than that in the fenestration group, but there was no statistical significance (P＞0.05)There was no statistically significant difference in surgical complications between the two groups (P＞0 05) Conclusion Percutaneous UBED can effectively improve clinical symptoms of patients with LDH, promote the recovery of lumbar function, and lower the levels of inflammatory factors