This review presents the history of chemonucleolysis, the techniques, indic
ations, contraindications, and complications. Presenting an historical over
view and comparison of success rates with surgical discectomy may provide a
fresh understanding of the controversy surrounding chemonucleolysis and es
tablish its efficacy in relation to more invasive treatments. A review of t
he literature from 1973 through 1998 for chemonucleolysis, open discectomy,
and microdiscectomy provided published success rates for these procedures,
and a mean rate with standard deviation was determined. In the experience
and opinion of the authors, chemonucleolysis remains a viable alternative f
or patients who have exhausted all conservative means of treatment. Proper
patient selection leads to success rates comparable to open discectomy and
microdiscectomy.