50's & 60's and Dr. Paul Harrington

In 1953, a revolutionary orthopedic surgeon by the name of Dr. Paul Harrington from Houston, Texas, introduced a new spinal hardware system that would refine scoliosis treatment like never before. This hardware system involved stainless steel rods, named "Harrington Rods". His original idea was wrapped around this surgical system, but at the beginning his idea was to use it without fusion. In due time, Dr. Harrington realized that correction was dramatically improved when used in conjunction with spinal fusion and he began to incorporate both in his surgeries. Harrington Rods were intended to provide a means to reduce the curvature and to provide more stability to a spinal fusion. Before the Harrington Rod was invented, scoliosis patients had their spines fused without any instrumentation to support it; such fusions required many months in plaster casts, and large curvatures could progress despite fusion.

Word grew of Dr. Paul Harrington and the Harrington Rod system and suddenly, orthopedic surgeons around the world were acheiving greater than 50% corrections compared to what they had become accustomed to!

As I stated in an earlier post, scoliosis is sometimes oversimplified by referring to it as "curvature of the spine". When in fact, scoliosis is really a 3-D deformity, with rotation in addition to a curvature . Most patients are referred for a consultation based solely on a perceived deformity by a family member. The deformity is almost always an asymmetry of the shoulders, waist, hips or rib cage. Up until 30-35 years ago, it was most likely a family physician that noted the deformity for referral to an orthopedic surgeon, but today it is generally a school nurse teacher, due to the fact that scoliosis screenings (typically the Adam bending test that I referred to in earlier posts) are routinely done in school. The main treatment options for idiopathic scoliosis have been for quite some time and are still summarized as "the 3 O's": (1) observation, (2) orthotic (Bracing), and (3) operative intervention. When to choose each of these treatments is a complicated matter. The risk of curve progression varies from patient to patient and depending on which form of scoliosis they have. For my type, idiopathic adolescent scoliosis, treatment depended on curve degree, or the Cob-angle.

So you may ask, "Exactly what is a Harrington Rod?” Well, a Harrington Rod is part of a device that "was a stainless steel distraction rod fitted with hooks at both ends and a ratchet and was implanted through an extensive posterior spinal approach, the hooks being secured onto the vertebral laminae. It was used at the beginning without performing a spinal fusion but early results proved fusion as part of the procedure was mandatory, as movement of the unfused spine would cause the metal to fatigue and eventually break. The procedure required the use of a postoperative plaster cast or bracing until vertebral fusion had occurred."

This was "THE" greatest technology at the time of my diagnosis and it was deemed to be "the" cure! I do recall Dr. Hardy raving about its wonders and it was at my very first consultation that he said that afterwards, "I would be as good as new". Perfect. Set for life. Cured! So here we were and the cure was in front of us. And we were about to try it out, for there were no other options. Especially for a 12 year old girl with three curves.

So, in conclusion, the plan for me was that Dr. Hardy would perform a spinal fusion from T4 to L5 with the implementation of TWO Harrington Rods implanted in TWO different surgeries, using bone from my iliac crests (*see picture in sideline) for grafting (called AUTOGRAFT, as it is using my own bone and tissue), and the surgeries would occur TWO weeks apart. After the second surgery, I would be re-casted, so as to limit motion of the spine, therefore enhancing the healing process and minimizing any potential discomfort. Then I would return every 3 months for a new cast, for the time period of one full year and BOOM - I would be CURED!! Good as new, remember? So, here we go.............................