Objective To investigate the clinical effect of percutaneous transforaminal endoscopy combined with visual trephine foraminoplasty for lumbar L5/S1 disc herniation in patients with high iliac crest. Methods A total of 100 patients who underwent percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic L5/S1 discectomy with visual trephine foraminoplasty were selected. The patients were divided into observation group (n=50) and control group (n=50) according to the presence or absence of high iliac crest. The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, intraoperative blood loss, length and cost of hospitalization, visual analogue scale (VAS) score of leg pain, Oswestry disability index (ODI) and incidence of postoperative complications were compared between the two groups. Results The operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy times, and intraoperative blood loss in the observation group were significantly more than those in the control group, and the differences were statistically significant (all P<0.05). There was no statistically statistically significant difference in the length and cost of hospitalization between the two groups (P>0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in VAS score between the two groups before operation (P>0.05). At 1 month, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after operation, the VAS score and ODI score of the two groups were lower than those before operation, while the VAS score and ODI score of the observation group at each time point were significantly different from those of the control group (all P<0.05). There was no statistically significant difference in the incidence of postoperative complications between the two groups (14.0% vs. 6.0%) (P>0.05). Conclusion Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic L5/S1 discectomy can be performed safely and effectively by using the visual trephine foraminoplasty technique. However, the high iliac crest can lead to the increase of operation time, intraoperative fluoroscopy times and intraoperative blood loss, which is still an unfavorable factor affecting the operation.