Background: Percutaneous endoscopic lumbar discectomy (PELD) has become a feasible alternative to the conventional open surgery for the treatment of lumbar disc herniation (LDH), but PELD is associated with a certain rate of recurrence. Therefore, a good choice of surgical approach for recurrent lumbar disc herniation (rLDH) is important. The purpose of this study was to compare the outcomes between PELD and minimally invasive transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (MIS-TLIF) for revision surgery for the rLDH after primary PELD surgery.Methods: This study retrospectively assessed 46 patients who suffered from rLDH after PELD surgery in Peking University First Hospital from January 2015 to June 2019, and patients were divided into two groups, PELD group (n=24) and MIS-TLIF group (n=22), according to different revision surgical methods. Preoperative data, perioperative conditions, complications, recurrence condition, and clinical outcomes were compared between these two groups.Results: Compared with the MIS-TLIF group, the PELD group was associated with shorter operative time, less intraoperative hemorrhage, and shorter post-operative hospitalization, but higher recurrence rate. Complication rates were comparable between two groups. Both the two groups could provide patients with satisfactory clinical outcomes at the 12-month follow-up after revision surgery. Compared with MIS-TLIF, PELD was associated with visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores of back pain, and Oswestry disability index (ODI) at the 1-month follow-up, whereas this effect was equalized after 6 months postoperatively.Conclusions: Either PELD or MIS-TLIF surgery could provide satisfactory clinical outcomes for revision surgery for the rLDH after primary PELD. PELD brought advantages in shorter operative time, less intraoperative hemorrhage, and shorter post-operative hospitalization over MIS-TLIF, however, higher postoperative recurrence rate of PELD couldn’t be ignored. Surgeons must weigh advantages against disadvantages of these surgical methods and fully informed patients preoperatively.