What is Scoliosis
Scoliosis affects all ages: infants, children, adolescents, and adults. About 80% of scoliosis cases are called adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (AIS). Idiopathic means the...
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Not all spinal rods are "Harrington Rods"
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Hello,
There is often a misconception that all spinal rods are called "Harrington Rods", so I thought it would be helpful to give some more info regarding this. The original rod used in scoliosis surgeries was invented by Dr Paul Harrington in the late 1950s. It is a specific type of rod that works on a rachetting system and is attached to the spine only at the ends of the rod. Over time it became apparent that the Harrington Rods could cause problems if a patient was fused down into the lower lumbar area. Because of this, newer types of rods were developed and the Harrington itself fell out of favour. It has not been in use for scoliosis surgeries in the US or in Europe for over 20 years now. If you have had surgery since about 1990 then it is almost certain that you do NOT have a Harrington Rod. Modern spinal rods now attach to every single vertebra, and are able to de-rotate each one, which means that they are more stable and can provide much better correction than a Harrington ever could. However, a lot of people (and a lot of doctors) now refer to ALL spinal rods generically as "Harrington Rods". Be careful not to get frightened unnecessarily! Even if you do have an original style Harrington, it's not all doom and gloom. There are thousands of people out there who have never had any problems with theirs - I am one of them, despite having a low lumbar fusion. Keep an eye out for problems, but remember that it is certainly not a foregone conclusion that you will experience problems just because you have a Harrington. Hope this is useful :-) Cornovia x Posted on 11/01/09, 08:11 am |
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Hello Cornovia,
The advent of pedical screws (thankfully) put an end to the use of Harrington rods in most scoliosis surgeries performed around the world. This greatly improved the amount of surgical correction (cobb angle reduction) the procedure could achieve, but it doesn't appear to have improved the poor long-term outcomes of the procedure. Here is a quote from a peer reviewed journal that made special note of the topic. "There is no evidence that the long-term effects of scoliosis surgery are superior to the long-term effects of AIS itself......The main indication for surgical treatment in patients with AIS is cosmetic. However, spinal surgery may, along with other negative side effects, actually cause postoperative clinical deterioration" - Patient safety in surgery, 2007; 1:7 It is impossible to fuse as many as 18 out of 24 moveable vertebrea and not expect to have a long-term biomechanical disaster on your hands. Regardless, of the procedure employed by the surgeon. We need a better way......and were getting closer and closer to finding one. Early stage scoliosis intervention seems to be the key. 
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