Objective: To compare the clinical efficacy of the use of PTFE-covered stent and bare stent in transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic stent shunt (TIPSS) for portal hypertension. Methods: Fifty-two patients with portal hypertension underwent TIPSS with PTFE-covered stent (covered stent group, 20 cases) or with bare stent (bare stent group, 32 cases). The shunt patency, changes in portal venous pressure, hematological examination results and improvement of ascites between the two groups were compared. Results: TIPSS was successfully performed in all patients of the two groups, and length of postoperative follow-up in covered stent group was (8.11±4.9) months and in bare stent group was (8.34±4.4) months. The shunt patency rate showed no statistical difference between the two groups during 6-month follow-up period (P>0.05), but it was significantly higher in covered stent group than that in bare stent group during the 12-month follow-up period (P<0.05). The postoperative portal venous pressures in both groups were significantly decreased compared with their preoperative levels (both P<0.05), but the decreasing amplitudes between the two groups showed no statistical difference (P>0.05). No statistical difference was noted in the incidence of hepatic encephalopathy between the two groups (P>0.05). The degree of white blood cell increase in bare stent group was significantly higher than that in covered stent group (P>0.05), but no statistical difference was seen in other hematological parameters (all P>0.05). The improvement of ascites of the two groups had no statistical difference (P>0.05). Conclusion: The long-term shunt patency of TIPSS for portal hypertension using PTFE-covered stent is higher than that of using bare stent.