en Clinical Neuroscience Clinical Neuroscience Original Original <div style="text-align: justify;"><strong>Introduction</strong>: Lumbar disk herniation (LDH) is one of the most common pathologies leading to radiculopathy. Open microdiscectomy is the gold standard of LDH treatment. However, minimally invasive techniques such as percutaneous laser disk decompression (PLDD) are gaining growing attention. In this study, we retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes of patients who underwent PLDD and compared them with those of a group of patients who underwent open microdiscectomy.<br> <strong>Methods</strong>: Our report included patients diagnosed with protruded LDH with severe refractory pain for at least 6 to 8 weeks who underwent the interventions. Baseline outcome parameters were recorded before the procedures, and questionnaires were completed at two follow-up sessions. Pain intensity was measured using the visual analog scale (VAS). Additionally, patients were asked to complete the 36-item short-form health survey (SF-36) to report their quality of life. Finally, we used the Oswestry disability index (ODI) to obtain information about patients&rsquo; daily functional status.<br> <strong>Results</strong>: A total of 165 patients were enrolled in the study. At the final follow-up, there was no statistically significant difference in the VAS level between the groups. However, the differences between the two groups regarding the SF-36 and ODI were statistically significant.<br> <strong>Conclusion</strong>: Our study report showed that both methods significantly improved the clinical outcomes of the patients with protruded disk herniation.<br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span sans-serif="" style="font-family:Calibri,"><b><span style="font-size:10.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span style="font-family:"Arial","sans-serif""></span></span></span></b></span></span></span></div> Lumbar spine, Percutaneous laser disk decompression (PLDD), Microdiscectomy, Protruded lumbar disk herniation, Disk pathologies 869 878 http://bcn.iums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3845-2&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Masoud Khadivi dr.m.khadivi@gmail.com 13700319475328460055643 13700319475328460055643 No Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Ali Ahmadzadeh Amiri ali_ahmdzdh@yahoo.com 13700319475328460055644 13700319475328460055644 No Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Navid Moghadam navid.mgd@gmail.com 13700319475328460055645 13700319475328460055645 No Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Amir Ahmadzadeh Amiri amir.amzd93@gmail.com 13700319475328460055646 13700319475328460055646 No Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Eslamian md.eslamian@gmail.com 13700319475328460055647 13700319475328460055647 No Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohammad Zarei zarei_mohammad78@yahoo.com 13700319475328460055648 13700319475328460055648 No Department of Orthopedics, Imam Khomeini Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mersad Moosavi mersad_moosavi@yahoo.com 13700319475328460055649 13700319475328460055649 No Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Milad Shafizadeh milad_shafizadeh@yahoo.com 13700319475328460055650 13700319475328460055650 No Department of Neurosurgery, Shariati Hospital, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Alireza Borghei alireza_borghei@rush.edu 13700319475328460055651 13700319475328460055651 No Department of Neurosurgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, Unites States. Ramin Kordi ramin_kordi@tums.ac.ir 13700319475328460055652 13700319475328460055652 No Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran. Mohsen Rostami rostamim@tums.ac.ir, rostami.moh@gmail.com 13700319475328460055653 13700319475328460055653 Yes Sports Medicine Research Center, Neuroscience Institute, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.