Pseudarthrosis following treatment of idiopathic scoliosis by Harrington instrumentation and fusion without added bone.

A retrospective review was conducted to assess the incidence of pseudarthrosis among 381 patients who had surgical treatment of idiopathic scoliosis by Harrington distraction rod and posterior fusion without added bone. In 260 patients where the lowest level of fusion was at or above the third lumbar vertebra, there were no cases of pseudarthrosis. In the remaining 121 patients with fusion extending below the third lumbar level, there were eight cases, an incidence of 6.6%, for an overall incidence of 2.5%.