Not all rods are Harrington - An overview of spinal instrumentation in scoliosis treatment

Background. Scoliosis is a multiplanar spinal deformity, which has been tre ated in the past with spinal fusion and cast application, starting in the e arly part of this century. In the last 30 years, Paul Harrington successful ly introduced spinal instrumentation for scoliosis. Harrington instrumentat ion has had a large impact on the treatment of scoliosis. Currently, there are many different instrumentations available for the treatment of scoliosi s. Indications differ for the use of these systems. Appreciation of spinal instrumentation is essential to treatment of the patient with scoliosis. Po st-operative roentgenographic studies are better understood when the interf ace between instrumentation and the spine is understood. Materials and methods. Distinguishing characteristics between some of the m ore common instrumentations are noted. There continues to be a proliferatio n of spinal instrumentation systems. Roentgenograms and spinal models are u sed to explain how some of the instrumentation systems differ and how they interface with the spine. Conclusion. An overview of spinal instrumentation in scoliosis treatment wi ll allow better understanding of the purposes of the hardware and how it re lates to the spine.