Harrington rod

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The Harrington rod (or Harrington implant) is a stainless steel device used to treat scoliosis and other spine problems. It was designed to straighten and stabilize the spine and to help with spinal fusion. About a million people received Harrington rods from the early 1960s to the late 1990s. It was developed in 1953 by Paul Harrington, a Baylor College of Medicine orthopedic professor, with orthotist Thorkild Engen, partly to help polio patients with neuromuscular scoliosis.

The rod is a distraction device with hooks at both ends and a ratchet. It is placed along the spine from the back and hooked onto the laminae of the vertebrae. At first, doctors often did a fusion as part of the procedure because moving an unfused spine could fatigue and break the rod. Patients wore a plaster cast or brace after surgery until the bones fused.

A potential problem is flatback syndrome, where the rod prevents the lower spine from keeping its natural curve, causing back pain and trouble standing or walking. Not everyone develops this, and many people have had Harrington rods for decades without issues; some may need additional surgery to realign the spine. The rod’s designer presented it in 1958, and it gained notable attention in the 1960s, including a Time magazine cover.