History and Basic Concepts of Unilateral Biportal Endoscopic Surgery (UBE)

The idea of an endoscope originated from the use of Philipp Bozzini's cystoscope for pediatric endoscopic neurosurgery in 1806 [1]. Direct endoscopic visualization of the spinal canal and its contents was born in 1931 from the pioneering work of Michael Burman [2]. Through the advent of both flexible fiberoptic light sources and optics for decades, the use and technique of standard arthroscopic instrumentation for spinal surgery were first reported in 1996 by De Antoni et al. [3]. Two years later, they described clinical use of standard arthroscopic instruments for magnification, illumination, and irrigation [4]. Soliman reported surgical management of lumbar disc prolapse and spinal stenosis using two separate portals in 2013 and 2015 [5, 6]. The surgical technique shown in Fig. 1 used by Soliman was very similar to the UBE technique used today.