The posterior lumbar interbody fusion (PLIF) was born in the 1950s, and the fusion rate and clinical outcomes were significantly improved because of adequate bone grafting, good blood supply to the bone graft bed, and a reasonable biomechanical environment during interbody fusion. In 1982, Harms et al. proposed the technique of lumbar interbody fusion through the intervertebral foramen (TLIF), which reduced the incidence of nerve injury by eliminating the need to overstretch the nerve roots during surgery, which led to the rapid expansion of the TLIF technique. Both PLIF and TLIF fusion require extensive stripping of the paravertebral muscles on both sides of the lumbar spine, resulting in some degree of postoperative denervation of the paravertebral muscles; sometimes more posterior structures on both sides, such as the laminae and intervertebral tuberosities, need to be removed, and these operations affect the long-term outcome of interbody fusion. With the development of minimally invasive spine surgery techniques, this problem is gradually being solved. The advent of the tubular retractor technique and percutaneous pedicle screw technique made posterior minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion possible, and in 2003, Foley first reported on the minimally invasive transforaminal approach to lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) technique. Our minimally invasive spine surgery team has used this technique to treat hundreds of patients with low back pain with satisfactory results. the efficacy of MIS-TLIF is comparable to that of conventional TLIF surgery, but MIS-TLIF has less pain in the early postoperative period, a shorter hospital stay, early recovery, and fewer complications. In general, patients can be off the floor on the first day after surgery and can be discharged from the hospital in three to seven days. Which patients with low back pain can undergo MIS-TLIF? Generally speaking, MIS-TLIF can be performed in patients with low back and leg pain due to the following reasons: 1. lumbar spondylolisthesis; 2. recurrent disc herniation combined with instability; 3. lumbar spinal stenosis; 4. lumbar degenerative lateral and posterior convexity deformity; 5. discogenic low back pain.