PROGRESS IN ORTHOPEDIC SURGERY FOR 1946 A Review Prepared by an Editorial Board of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons: XX. CONDITIONS INVOLVING THE SPINE AND THORAX, EXCLUSIVE OF THOSE IN THE LOWER PART OF THE BACK

RETRACTOR FOR SPINAL SURGERY  TAYLOR¹⁰³⁰ describes a simple retractor for spinal surgery. The advantages are derived from the principle of leverage. The important feature is a small tip, 3/8 inch wide (0.95 cm.), 1/2 inch (1.27 cm.) long and curved slightly forward at the end of the retracting blade. The tip is caught on the lateral surface of the articular facet on which leverage is made for retraction.

[Ed. Note.  —This retractor has definite advantages when the articular facets are to be arthrodesized.]

TREPHINEMENT  Michele and Krueger¹⁰³¹ describe a method of trephining vertebral bodies: A paravertebral incision is made directly over the articular facet of the vertebral body under diagnosis. The articular facet is located and the intra-articular space is gouged at a right angle, with the trephine entering into the medullary space of the pedicle.... The dense cortical rim of the vertebral body and