Discolysis

Discolysis, also called chemonucleolysis or nucleolysis, is a treatment for a herniated disc that seeks to relieve the associated neurological symptoms through the enzymatic or chemical destruction or softening of the nucleus pulposus. The procedure was introduced in 1964 by Lyman W. Smith, using the enzyme chymopapain as its active agent, but that original chymopapain-based approach is no longer used because of serious safety concerns, including the risk of anaphylaxis and transverse myelitis. A newer form of the procedure injects an oxygen-ozone solution into the intervertebral disc, but this variant lacks standardization in technique, training, and equipment, remains unapproved by the FDA in the United States, and is supported only by limited, poor-quality studies with potentially underreported complications.