Technical Notes on Unilateral Biportal Endoscopy in Asian Spine Journal and the Journal of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Technique: Procedural Evolution, Technical Insights, and Reporting Transparency

To evaluate and compare the publication patterns, procedural spectrum, complexity, and reporting transparency of unilateral biportal endoscopy (UBE)-related technical notes published in the Asian Spine Journal (ASJ) and the Journal of Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery and Technique (JMISST). All articles published from each journal’s inception through December 31, 2025, were screened. Technical notes classified as such by the journals and focused primarily on UBE-related surgical techniques were included. Extracted variables included anatomical region, procedure type, complexity tier, imaging confirmation, follow-up, complication and risk reporting, safety discussion, and supplementary video availability. Descriptive analyses were performed, and Fisher exact test was used for selected comparisons. Of the 2,161 articles screened, 95 were technical notes, of which 23 were UBE-related. UBE-related technical notes accounted for 8 of 50 technical notes in ASJ and 15 of 45 in JMISST (p=0.058). Lumbar procedures predominated (19 of 23), with additional thoracic, cervical, and multiregional applications. Tier 1 procedures were the most common (14 of 23), followed by Tier 3 (7 of 23) and Tier 2 (2 of 23); the distribution of Tier 3 procedures did not differ significantly between the journals (p=0.345). The reported techniques included refinements of decompression, UBE transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion, thoracic discectomy, thoracic cage insertion, tumor resection, cement removal, hybrid decompression, and dual-cage fusion. Reporting transparency scores ranged from 2 to 5, with variation in follow-up, complication reporting, and supplementary video availability. UBE-related technical notes documented both the refinement of established lumbar techniques and their extension to more complex applications. More standardized reporting and further clinical validation are needed to improve reproducibility and support clinical translation.