Chemonucleolysis was first truely minimally invasive technique to treat lumbar disc herniation by utilizing intradiscal injections of chymopapain. Because of complications associated with the procedure, such as transverse myelitis and anaphylactic shock, physicians began looking for alternatives.
Parviz Kambin began inserting instrumentation into the disc during open procedures. This type of instrumentation for disc access served as a predicate to current instrumentation. Kambin published his results for percutaneous discectomy in 1986, with 85% success in more than 50 patients
First published series on percutaneous discectomy came from a Japanese surgeon