Laminotomy and transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion (TLIF) is usually used to treat unstable spinal stenosis. Minimally invasive surgery (MIS) can cause less muscle injury than conventional open surgery (COS). The purpose of this study was to compare the degree of postoperative fatty degeneration in the paraspinal muscles and the spinal decompression between COS and MIS based on MRI. Forty-six patients received laminotomy and TLIF (21 COS, 25 MIS) from February 2016 to January 2017 were included in this study. Lumbar MRI was performed within 3 months before surgery and 1 year after surgery to compare muscle-fat-index (MFI) change of the paraspinal muscles and the dural sac cross-sectional area (DSCAS) change. The average MFI change at L2-S1 erector spinae muscle was significantly greater in the COS group (27.37 ± 21.37% vs. 14.13 ± 19.19%, P = 0.044). A significant MFI change difference between the COS and MIS group was also found in the erector spinae muscle at the caudal adjacent level (54.47 ± 37.95% vs. 23.60 ± 31.59%, P = 0.016). DSCSA improvement was significantly greater in the COS group (128.15 ± 39.83 mm2 vs. 78.15 ± 38.5 mm2, P = 0.0005). COS is associated with more prominent fatty degeneration of the paraspinal muscles. Statically significant post-operative MFI change was only noted in erector spinae muscle at caudal adjacent level and L2-S1 mean global level. COS produces a greater area of decompression on follow up MRI than MIS with no statistical significance on clinical grounds.