50 Years Ago in CORR: Lumbosacral Fusion: The Mortised Transfacet Method by Use of the Vibrating Electric Saw for Circular Bone Blocks Earl D. McBride MD, Howard B. Shorbe MD CORR 1958;12:268–275

Excerpt

Reliably achieving spine fusion has been a problem since fusion was first described by Russell Hibbs of the New York Orthopaedic Hospital in 1911 [1]. Since that time, many dozens, if not hundreds of techniques have been proposed. PubMed lists over 1700 articles on the topic since 1935, many of which relate to techniques, and these 1700 articles undoubtedly reflect the tip of the iceberg. The reasons for performing a spine fusion have also varied and been greatly refined over the last century, and the success rates have varied depending, in addition to other factors, on both the reasons for the fusion and the technique. The article we highlight this month on lower lumbar spine fusion was published by Dr. Earl McBride and his colleague, Dr. Howard Shorbe, both of Oklahoma City [5]. Dr. McBride had been the founder and first President of the Association of Bone and Joint Surgeons (1947) [2, 3] which organized and has sponsored this journal since its inception in 1953. …