Operative treatment of scoliosis with Harrington instrumentation technique.

Thirty-five patients with scoliosis were treated with posterior fusion including the Harrington instrumentation technique. The operation was followed by a 1-year period of treatment in a Milwaukee brace. The patients had a thoracic or a thoracolumbar curve averaging 74 degrees. The mean initial correction was 45 per cent, and the mean final correction 33 per cent, after 2 3/4 years. There were no cases of pseudarthrosis and only one case of transient paresis. There were no deaths. It is concluded that these results are satisfactory and that the method is a safe one in experienced hands.