Breaking of distractors of the Harrington type after surgical treatment of scoliosis

: 180 patients with scoliosis (aged 12-29 years) were subjected to the correction of deformation by means of the Harringtone type distractors and spondylodesis with utilization of osseous transplants. In 24 of them (13,3%) the distractor has been broken in different terms after the operation. The danger of the break increases with the age of the patients and abruptly increases in case of scoliosis of the V degree (in excess of 90 degrees) and in case of necessity to bend the distractor to correct the kyphoscoliosis. The distractor break is associated not with the material structure but with the rod design.