Chymopapain--past and present, future?
Clinical experience with Chymopapain casts doubts upon the reported results of the limited double blind studies done mainly by surgeons and their residents, relatively inexperienced in the disc injection technique. Chymopapain is a useful drug when used properly for lumbar disc disease and has the potential of eliminating three-fourths of lumbar disc surgery. Chymopapain should have been released by the FDA on a Phase IV basis. In the mean-time the drug is available in Canada and England but not in the U.S.
D000818:Animals; D002574:Cervical Vertebrae / Q000187:drug effects; D002917:Chymopapain / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D010450:Endopeptidases / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D007405:Intervertebral Disc Displacement / Q000188:drug therapy; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000187:drug effects*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy; D014481:United States; D014486:United States Food and Drug Administration
D010450:Endopeptidases; D002917:Chymopapain