Objective To explore the clinical efficacy of SPLA and CLA in the treatment of acute appendicitis. Methods The clinical data of 130 patients with acute appendicitis in our department were retrospectively collected as study subjects. All patients were given laparoscopic surgery, and they were divided into single-port group(transumbilical single-port laparoscopic appendectomy, SPLA group) and three-port group(conventional three-port laparoscopic appendectomy, CLA group) according to the surgical methods. The operative time and intraoperative blood loss were compared between the two groups, and the postoperative normal temperature time, postoperative exhaust time, postoperative hospital stay and pain were compared, and the appendix pathological types were compared between the two groups. Results The operative time in single-port group was significantly longer than that in three-port group [(92.3±21.8) min vs (52.7±14.2) min] (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in the intraoperative blood loss between the two groups(P>0.05). The normal recovery time of body temperature and VAS score in single-port group were significantly shorter than those in three-port group [(67.8±17.4) h vs (75.7±14.8) min, (3.7±0.7) points vs (4.1±0.9) points](P<0.05), but there were no significant differences between the two groups in postoperative exhaust time, hospital stay and appendix pathological types(P>0.05). The Vancouver scar scale score in single-port group was significantly lower than that in three-port group [(3.05±0.72) points vs (3.34±0.81) points](P<0.05), but there were no significant differences in thickness and blood vessel distribution between the two groups(P>0.05). Conclusion Transumbilical single-port laparoscopic appendectomy and conventional three-port laparoscopic appendectomy both can effectively treat acute appendicitis, and they have similar surgical indications, but the former one has smaller trauma and is aesthetically pleasing.