To investigate the surgical techniques and short-term clinical effects of minimally invasive lumbar interbody fusion in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases, 43 patients who underwent minimally invasive posterior lumbar interbody fusion from January 2012 to September 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. The lesion was located by C- arm fluoroscopy during the operation. The working areas for placing pedicle screw, fusion and decompression were well exposed by the technique of "mobile skin and soft tissue window". The operation time, intraoperative blood loss, length of incision, blood drainage and complication after operation were recorded. Oswestry disability index (ODI) and visual analogue scale (VAS) of pre-operation, 7 days, 1, 3 and 12 months postoperatively were evaluated. 37 patients were followed up for an average of 15.2 ± 4.7 months. Intraoperative blood loss was 175.1 ± 71.8 ml; operation time was 129.0 ± 12.0 min; length of incision was 5.4 ± 0.3 cm and postoperative blood drainage was 116.5 ± 66.0 ml. Postoperative lumbar and leg VAS and ODI scores were significantly decreased, comparing with that of pre-operation (P < 0.05). Lumbar VAS score was 6.6 ± 0.8 before operation and 0.7 ± 0.6 at 12-month follow-up. Leg VAS score was 7.0 ± 0.1 before operation and 0.6 ± 0.5 at 12-month follow-up. Average ODI percent was 68.6% ± 5.4% before operation and 6.2% ± 1.6% at 12-month follow-up. There were no internal fixation loose and fracture, and the radiographic findings were consistent with the standard of the lumbar interbody fusion at the last follow-up. In the current study, the minimally invasive treatment concept and the technology of "mobile skin and soft tissue window" are applied to the traditional posterior lumbar interbody fusion surgery. This modified method can not only obtain good vision without special instruments, but can also significantly reduce the skin incision and muscle tissue dissection, get less surgical trauma and better functional recovery, achieving a satisfactory clinical effect for single segment lumbar degenerative disease.