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Harrington Rod
The Harrington rod was a stainless steel spinal instrument that was implanted in the patient along their spinal column to treat a curvature in their spine starting in the 1960s. Harrington rods were the most common tool used for scoliosis to treat instability and deformity of the spine.
It is estimated that around one million people had Harrington rods implanted because of scoliosis in its thirty-year history. Newer developments in medicine and medical technology have now made the Harrington rod obsolete. The Harrington rod and its successors are all centered around the same idea that the tools are only designed to temporary correct the curvature in the spine, but it is the actual healing of the spinal fusion which fixes the patient’s condition. These rods have also been widely linked to the development of Flatback Syndrome in recipients.
Dr. Richard Mazzaferro
Board-certified Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation
Dr. Richard Mazzaferro is a board-certified specialist in Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation with more than 10 years experience in spine. Dr. Mazzaferro is proficient in the use of lumbar and cervical interventional pain procedures. In 2002, he finished his residency training at the Harvard Medical School’s Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. He is the founder of Quincy Spine Center.
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