Presentation
History includes a motor vehicle accident 15 years ago complicated by T3 spinal injury and paraplegia, surgically treated with Harrington rod and pedicle screw fixation.
Patient Data
Posterior spinal fusion rod and screws transfixed in the upper thoracic spine.
Case Discussion
The Harrington rod, introduced in 1949 by Paul Harrington, is a steel surgical device that was implanted in the spine to treat scoliosis and, less frequently, destabilizing trauma 1. The device has hooks that are secured onto the laminae, facilitating spinal straightening. Long-term follow-up studies of adolescent scoliosis patients found significant improvement in spine curvature 3. However, due to the costs and complications of these instruments, Harrington rods have been mostly supplanted by alternative systems. The major complication of these devices is lumbar lordosis, termed Flatback syndrome 2, which caused difficulty standing upright and chronic pain. In the present case, both pedicle screws and a Harrington rod were used for realignment after trauma to the thoracic spine.
This case was submitted with supervision and input from:
Soni C. Chawla, M.D.
Health Sciences Clinical Professor,
Department of Radiological Sciences,
David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.
Attending Radiologist,
Olive View - UCLA Medical Center.
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