Objective To explore the curative effect between via Quadrant minimally invasive surgery and open surgery in the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and the effective nursing method for complication.Methods One hundred and fifteen LDH patients including 79 males and 36 females from January 2011 to January 2012 were chosen and divided into the via Quadrant minimally invasive operation transforaminal lumbarinterbody fusion(TLIF) group (Mini-TLIF,n =53) and the open surgery TLIF group (Open-TLIF,n =62).The length of incision,operative blood loss,symptom improvement,postoperative drainage,the time of postoperative ambulation and hospitalization,the incidence of complications were analyzed and compared between two groups to further explore the effective nursing method.Results The length of incision,operative blood loss,postoperative drainage,the time of postoperative ambulation and hospitalization in the Mini-TLIF group were better than those in the Open-TLIF group,and the differences were statistically significant (t =16.91,57.72,56.55,11.20,12.46,respectively; P ＜ 0.01).The difference was found in the score of Visual Analogue Scale before and after treatment in each group (t =34.108,40.964,respectively; P ＜0.01),but no difference was found before and after treatment between two groups (P ＞ 0.05).The cases of deep vein thrombosis and wound hematoma were respectively 1,0 case in the Mini-TLIF group,and were 21,10 cases in the Open-TLIF group,and the differences were statistically significant (x2 =18.894,7.441,respectively; P ＜ 0.01).Conclusions Both mini-TLIF and open-TLIF can effectively improve the back and leg pain in LDH patients.However,mini-TLIF is lower or shorter than open-TLIF in the aspects of the length of incision,operative blood loss,postoperative drainage,the time of postoperative ambulation and hospitalization; and the LDH patients with mini-TLIF have less pain,the shorter time in bed,the faster recovery; and the mini-TLIF can not only reduce the incidence rate of postoperative complications,but also greatly reduce the burden of clinical nursing.