440:, where they are now known as the Harrington Archives (a subset of the Spine and Orthopedic Historical Collections). The archives contain "Harrington's professional papers, photographs, publications, manuscripts, blueprints, drawings, and examples of the Harrington Rod." They also include "biographical information, presentations, professional correspondence files, personal correspondence, personal photographs, movies, and videotapes. Display cases in the archives exhibit photographs, documents, and artifacts that depict the history of Harrington's life and career."
302:, were inappropriate for patients paralysed by polio, and began to research new treatments. An early method he tried for scoliotic polio patients was manual correction of the scoliotic deformity at the time of surgery, and internal fixation of each facet. There were some benefits to this treatment but Harrington found that the fixation would not hold. The hooks and threaded rods used would corrode and break, causing curvature to return to the spine. Two patients of this procedure died.
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268:, acting as chief of the orthopaedic service. The 77th Evacuation Hospital was made up largely of medical practitioners from the University of Kansas Schools of Medicine and Nursing, and saw service in Europe and Africa. It was during his time with the 77th that Harrington encountered such military celebrities as General
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The
Harrington Rod, or Harrington implant, is a device for the straightening of the spine inside the body, designed by Paul Harrington. The device consists of a stainless steel rod, attached to the spine at the top and bottom of the curve with hooks. Attached ratchets are then tightened to distract
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Harrington's first uses of the device that would become the
Harringon Rod involved creating fresh instruments on the night before a prospective surgery. Following the surgery, he would modify the design for use on the next patient, making alterations based on his perception of the surgery outcome.
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The major drawback of the
Harrington Rod is that it straightens out the normal front to back curvature of the segment of the spine that is fused, which in many patients results in a flat back deformity, also known as "flatback syndrome". Advances in surgical techniques and technology in the late
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reported in 1960, "Some ailments seem almost preferable to their cures. A case in point is scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine that occurs in childhood. treatment seems so punishing that cannot be persuaded to permit it even to save their children from permanent deformity. Last week
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During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Harrington traveled extensively, demonstrating the techniques associated with the
Harrington Rod. During this time he developed an interest in boats, which led to designing and building a 54-foot aluminium catamaran. He also dabbled in photography and
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An initial interest in the field of physical education bloomed into an interest in medicine. He attended the
University of Kansas School of Medicine and graduated in 1939, having worked his way through school playing semi-professional basketball. In 1936 he tried out for the
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school system, from which he graduated in 1930, having been named one of the State of Kansas' 15 most outstanding high-school graduates. He had initially not planned to go to college but changed his mind after being offered a
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said, "Paul will be remembered not only for the development of the
Harrington instruments, but for his straightforward frankness, his bowties, his par golf, his smile, his trumpet, and above all for being a nice person."
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Between 1972 and his death in 1980, Harrington worked with Marc
Addason Asher to institute the Mary Alice and Paul R. Harrington Distinguished Professorship of Molecular Orthopedics at Kansas University Medical College.
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or straighten the spine. Following surgery to insert the rod, the patient wears a postoperative plaster cast or brace for a few months, until vertebral fusion has occurred, after which the cast or brace is removed.
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inside the body. It entered common use in the early 1960s and remained the gold standard for scoliosis surgery until the late 1990s. During this period over one million people benefited from
Harrington's procedure.
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in Kansas City, where he completed his residency in orthopaedic surgery in 1942, under
Doctors Frank Dickson and Rex Dively. He then joined the United States Army.
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Baylor
College of Medicine awards the Paul Harrington Award for Excellence in Orthopaedic Research in recognition of Harrington's contribution to spinal surgery.
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to make his instrumentation available to other doctors. He insisted that no one be allowed to use the rods without first seeing him demonstrate the procedure.
298:, a condition where the spine becomes curved laterally (from side to side). Harrington realised that existing treatments for scoliosis, which relied heavily on
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1990s were eventually able, in most cases, to correct scoliosis without causing flatback syndrome, leading to the gradual phasing out of the Harrington Rod.
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Undeterred, from the late 1940s to late 1950s Harrington worked on what would eventually become known as the Harrington implant, or Harrington Rod.
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National Scoliosis Foundation (September 15, 2009). "Thirty-Fourth Harrington Guest Lecture, SRS, 2008 Harrington's Contributions in Perspective".
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to create the Southwest Respiratory Foundation of the National Infantile Paralysis Association, the first such organisation in the United States.
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Once Harrington was satisfied with the basic design, he arranged for extensive testing of the instruments at the Engineering Department at
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405:, formerly the Institute for Rehabilitation and Research, and Baylor College of Medicine, and in the same year he also received the
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epidemic caused polio cases to swell dramatically and they eventually became his main priority. At this time he worked with the
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413:. In 1975 he received a Most Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Medical Alumni Association at the University of Kansas.
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He acted as a Professor of the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery and a Professor of the Department of Rehabilitation at
226:. During his time at the University of Kansas from 1931 to 1934 he competed on their basketball team, which won the
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However, the process slowly gained acceptance. In 1959 Harrington contracted with the medical manufacturing firm
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386:, of which he later served as President from 1972 to 1973. He also acted as orthopaedic consultant to the
821:. Kansas City, KS: Department of History and Philosophy of Medicine, University of Kansas Medical Center.
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Dogged Persistence: Harrington, Post-Polio Scoliosis and the Origin of Spine Instrumentation
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Dogged Persistence: Harrington, Post-Polio Scoliosis and the Origin of Spine Instrumentation
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championship three years in a row. In his senior year he was elected captain of the team.
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717:"Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas – Marc Addason Asher MD, 2007 Distinguished Kansan"
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Houston surgeon Paul Harrington, MD, was winning converts to a new and happier method."
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In 1992, Harrington's writings were collected by Nancy J. Hulston and Marc A. Asher in
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In the Army, from May 1942 to November 1945 Harrington served as a doctor at the
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in Chicago in 1958, where it was met with "astonishment and deep skepticism".
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at Roper Hospital, Charleston, South Carolina, after which he returned to
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For the singer and winner of the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest, see
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He publicly presented the process at the Annual Meeting of the
447:, published by Lowell Press. In 2015, Marc A. Asher published
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and worked as a surgeon at Jefferson Davis County Hospital in
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Harrington was born September 27, 1911, and educated in the
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By will, Harrington left his professional materials to the
401:. In 1973 he received the Cora and Webb Mading Medal from
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In 1966, Harrington was one of the founding members of the
667:. American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Archived from
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in Houston, Texas, and at a commercial testing company in
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Harrington died in Houston, Texas, on November 29, 1980.
192:(September 27, 1911 – November 29, 1980) was an American
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Dickson-Dively Orthopaedic Surgery Residency(now UMKC)
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The Collected Writings of Paul Randall Harrington, MD
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The Collected Writings of Paul Randall Harrington, MD
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Lateral curvature of the spine in a scoliosis patient
577:. Kansas University Medical College. Archived from
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719:. www.ksnativesonsanddaughters.org. Archived from
575:"History and Philosophy of Medicine Newsletter #1"
665:"Arresting Development – Dr Paul Harrington MD"
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502:"Instrumentation Systems For Scoliosis Surgery"
883:University of Kansas School of Medicine alumni
238:and won the championship of his region in the
802:Hulston, Nancy J.; Asher, Dr Marc A. (1992).
778:"Spine and Orthopedic Historical Collections"
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868:United States Army personnel of World War II
532:. Springer London. 2005. pp. 124–125.
196:. He is best known as the designer of the
663:American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons.
628:"Paul Randall Harrington, M.D., 1911–1980"
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898:United States Army Medical Corps officers
873:Kansas Jayhawks men's basketball players
428:In an obituary following his death, the
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633:. The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
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275:Following the war Harrington moved to
526:"Paul Randall Harrington 1911–1980".
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150:Saint Luke's Hospital of Kansas City
438:University of Kansas Medical Center
146:University of Kansas Medical Center
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888:American men's basketball players
858:Baylor College of Medicine people
430:Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery
504:. National Scoliosis Foundation
500:National Scoliosis Foundation.
283:. During the post-war years a
139:Jefferson Davis County Hospital
878:Military personnel from Kansas
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863:American orthopedic surgeons
756:10.1097/BRS.0b013e31819fcf12
169:Post-poliomyelitis scoliosis
16:American orthopedic surgeon
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697:. Medtronic. July 11, 2008
482:Scoliosis Research Society
467:Baylor College of Medicine
399:Baylor College of Medicine
384:Scoliosis Research Society
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289:Baylor College of Medicine
177:Cora and Webb Mading Medal
142:Baylor College of Medicine
21:Paul Harrington (musician)
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557:– via SpringerLink.
245:Harrington undertook his
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538:10.1007/1-84628-070-2_97
529:Who's Who In Orthopedics
262:77th Evacuation Hospital
817:Asher, Marc A. (2015).
394:in San Antonio, Texas.
388:United States Air Force
379:high-fidelity systems.
190:Paul Randall Harrington
44:Paul Randall Harrington
32:Paul Randall Harrington
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220:basketball scholarship
893:20th-century surgeons
403:TIRR Memorial Hermann
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236:national Olympic team
691:"Flat Back Syndrome"
224:University of Kansas
91:University of Kansas
723:on October 29, 2010
581:on December 4, 2008
407:Nicolas Andry Award
194:orthopaedic surgeon
179:Nicolas Andry Award
160:Orthopaedic surgery
472:Harrington implant
392:United States Army
323:Harrington implant
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255:St Luke's Hospital
251:surgical residency
249:and first year of
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547:978-1-85233-786-5
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100:Years active
60:27 September 1911
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215:Kansas City
842:Categories
488:References
247:internship
209:Early life
126:Profession
56:1911-09-27
477:Scoliosis
409:from the
374:Late life
296:scoliosis
228:Big Eight
103:1939–1980
87:Education
787:June 14,
764:19752697
461:See also
345:Illinois
166:Research
341:Chicago
281:Houston
240:javelin
222:by the
130:Surgeon
76:Houston
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359:Zimmer
174:Awards
744:Spine
631:(PDF)
277:Texas
202:spine
80:Texas
823:ISBN
789:2023
760:PMID
729:2010
703:2010
677:2010
639:2010
587:2010
555:2010
542:ISBN
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390:and
65:Died
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
