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Study Design: This is a report of a series of 104 patients who underwent lumbar discectomy and chemonucleolysis at the University of Virginia between 1985 and 1989., Objective: The primary objective was to determine the safety of this procedure. A secondary objective was to begin studying its efficacy., Summary of Background Data: This is the first report on the use of chymopapain during open surgery., Methods: Patients with low back pain and radicular symptoms not cured with conservative therapy were selected for participation in the study. Intraoperatively, disc spaces were injected with 2 ml of chymopapain. Patients were followed-up for an average of 5 years. Patients were surveyed regarding pain relief, and failures of the procedure were analyzed., Results: Seventy percent of patients reported good or excellent pain relief. Operative failures, characterized by reoperation at the same level, totaled 9.6%. Recurrent disc herniation at the time of reoperation occurred in 4.8%., Conclusion: The procedure is safe and the relief of pain was similar to that in other published series. The suggestion is that the rate of recurrent disc herniation is reduced.