Abstract
In 1951, A.R. Hodgson arrived to head the newly created Orthopedic and Trauma Unit within the Department of Surgery, which was upgraded to a full department a decade later. Hodgson and his team developed a surgical technique called anterior spinal fusion for the treatment of tuberculosis of the spine, a common ailment in those days. The surgery, first developed in 1955, proved a great success and became known as the “Hong Kong Operation.” It was revolutionary in that, up to that time, the spine had been approached surgically from the back while this called for operating on the spine from the front. It was much more effective than other ways of treating tuberculosis of the spine and put Hong Kong on the world map of orthopedic surgery.
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Notes
- 1.
Notes on a meeting held at Medical Headquarters on 21 August 1951; document in files of the Medical Faculty, University of Hong Kong.
- 2.
H.A. Brittain, “Ischiofemoral Arthrodesis,” British Journal of Surgery, 113 (1941): 93–104.
- 3.
A.R. Hodgson and G.K. McKee, “Treatment of Air Raid Casualties,” British Medical Journal, 4 August 1940.
- 4.
Who’s Who in Orthopedics, (ed) Seyed Behrooz Mostofi, (London: Springer 2004).
- 5.
Dino Samartzis interview with John O’Brien, Part 2 (Hong Kong Years 1968–1976) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB0gX_utTqM.
- 6.
Hong Kong Annual Report, 1953, p. 95.
- 7.
Ibid.
- 8.
Evans , 105.
- 9.
A.R. Hodgson , “Orthopaedic Surgery Through the Ages,” Elixir , Spring 1955.
- 10.
Minutes of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, 15 February 1955.
- 11.
Recollection by John O’Brien of conversations with Hodgson, in Samartzis interview.
- 12.
Lam Sim-fook , “Orthopaedics in the ‘Pre-Hodgson’ Era,” in Repair, Reconstruct and Rehabilitate: Half a Century of Orthopaedics in Hong Kong, Hong Kong College of Orthopaedic Surgeons and the Hong Kong Orthopaedic Association, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong Academy of Medicine Press, 2004). 6–15.
- 13.
Ibid.
- 14.
A.R. Hodgson , “Correction of Fixed Spinal Curves,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American, September 1965, 47(6): 1221–1227.
- 15.
Fang HSY, “The inception of anterior spinal surgery for the treatment of tuberculosis of the spine,” Hong Kong Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery. 1998 Vol. 2, No. 1.
- 16.
Ibid.
- 17.
A.R. Hodgson and Francis E. Stock , “Anterior Spinal Fusion: A Preliminary Communication on the Radical Treatment of Pott’s Disease and Pott’s Paraplegia ,” the British Journal of Surgery, Vol. 44, Issue 185, November 1956.
- 18.
Dr. Louis Hsu and Richard Cook. Fifty Years at Sandy Bay: The Ongoing Story of the Society for the Relief of Disabled Children, edited by Dr. Louis Hsu, (Hong Kong: WordAsia Publishing, 2004), 9.
- 19.
A.R. Hodgson and Francis E. Stock , “Anterior Spine Fusion for the Treatment of Tuberculosis of the Spine,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American, 42 (2): 295–310, March 1960.
- 20.
Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, American, March 1960, 42(2): 295–310.
- 21.
British Journal of Surgery, September 1960, Volume 48, issue 208, pp. 172–178.
- 22.
Hodgson to Stock, 28 April 1958. University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine Archives.
- 23.
Stock to Vice Chancellor, 7 May 1958. University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine Archives.
- 24.
A.H.G. Murley , “The Arthur Hodgson Lecture for 1986: Some Lessons from Hong Kong,” in The Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association : The Early Years, (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1995), 51–56.
- 25.
Ibid., 38–39.
- 26.
A.R. Hodgson , “Orthopaedic Surgery and Everyday Life,” Elixir , No. 2, 1961.
- 27.
Lam Sim-fook and A.R. Hodgson , “A Comparison of Foot Forms Among the Non-Shoe and Shoe-Wearing Chinese Population,” The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol. 40-A, No. 5, October 1958.
- 28.
Deputy Colonial Secretary to Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, 28 January 1961. Archives of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong.
- 29.
Stock letter to Save the Children Fund, 26 August 1961, Medical Faculty archives.
- 30.
China Medical Board letter to Hodgson, 1 November 1966, Medical Faculty archives.
- 31.
Minutes of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, 17 January 1967.
- 32.
Stock letter to R.L. Batton, 28 March 1960, Medical Faculty archives.
- 33.
Minutes of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, 28 March 1967.
- 34.
Ronald Beetham , “Indications for, and Problems Association with Anterior Spinal Fusion,” Journal of the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association , Vol. VI, No. 1, March 1969.
- 35.
Arthur Yau to University’s Assistant Secretary, 6 March 1975. Medical Faculty Archives of the University of Hong Kong.
- 36.
Hodgson to Vice Chancellor, 30 June 1961. Hong Kong University Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery (1966–1968).
- 37.
C.T. Jocson, “Thoughts of the Founding Fathers,” in The Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association : The Early Years, edited by Sim Fook Lam, Deogracias J. Tablan, David Fang , (Hong Kong: Hong Kong University Press, 1995), p. 7.
- 38.
A.R. Hodgson, Journal of the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association , 2, No.1 (June 1965).
- 39.
Vice-Chancellor’s to Hodgson, 15 June 1966. Hong Kong University Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 40.
“Pott’s Paraplegia : A Classification based upon the living pathology,” Paraplegia, (1967) 5, 1–16.
- 41.
“A Controlled Trial of Anterior Spinal Fusion and Debridement in the Surgical Management of Tuberculosis of the Spine in Patients on Standard Chemotherapy: A Study in Hong Kong,” The British Journal of Surgery, Vol 61 (1974) 853–866.
- 42.
Ibid.
- 43.
Announcement by C.G. Large , Senior Assistant Bursar, 26 July 1974. Hong Kong University Medical Faculty archives.
- 44.
Hodgson to Vice Chancellor, 4 September 1967, Hong Kong University Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 45.
Vice-Chancellor to Hodgson, 20 June 1967. University of Hong Kong Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 46.
Hodgson memorandum on meeting with Vice-Chancellor on 18 November 1966. Hong Kong University Archives. Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 47.
McFadzean to Vice-Chancellor, 18 February, 1970. Hong Kong University Archives. Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–68.
- 48.
Hodgson to Faculty Secretary, 11 May 1970. Archives of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Hong Kong.
- 49.
Hodgson to Vice-Chancellor, 4 November 1969. Hong Kong University Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 50.
Vice-Chancellor to McFadzean, 5 November 1969. Hong Kong University Archives. Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 51.
McFadzean letter to Vice Chancellor, 6 November 1969. Hong Kong University Archives, Orthopaedic Surgery, 1966–1968.
- 52.
“The Pathogenesis of Pott’s Paraplegia ,” The Journal of Bone and Surgery, Vol. 49-A, No. 6, September 1967.
- 53.
Hodgson editorial, The Journal of the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association , Vol. VI, No. 1.
- 54.
A.F. Dwyer , “An Anterior Approach to Scoliosis,” Journal of the Western Pacific Orthopaedic Association , Vol. VI, No. 3.
- 55.
Samartzis interview with O’Brien.
- 56.
Robert Fraser, “Presidential Address: The Formation of ISSLS and Its Impact on Lumbar Spine Research,” Spine: 15 May 2004, Volume 29, Issue 10, 1059–1065.
- 57.
Ibid.
- 58.
Hodgson to McFadzean, 12 March 1968. Hong Kong University Medical Faculty archives.
- 59.
Alleyne to Kotewall, 4 March 1968. Hong Kong University Medical Faculty archives.
- 60.
Hodgson to Dudgeon , 26 October 1971. Hong Kong University Archives, Registry File, Senior Research Assistant in Bio-Engineering.
- 61.
Minutes of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, 15 April 1975.
- 62.
Minutes of the Board of the Faculty of Medicine, 17 June 1975.
- 63.
Hodgson to Dean, Faculty of Medicine, 31 July 1980. Medical Faculty archives.
- 64.
Dean Hsieh to Hodgson, 18 December 1980. Medical Faculty archives.
- 65.
Samartzis interview with O’Brien.
- 66.
“Five-Year Assessments of Controlled Trials of Ambulatory Treatment, Debridement and Anterior Spinal Fusion in the Management of Tuberculosis of the Spine,” Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery, Vol. 60-B, No. 2, May 1978.
- 67.
Sister Mary Gabriel O’Mahony was a senior physician. The Columban Sisters administered Ruttonjee Sanatorium from the time it opened in 1949. The missionary order announced its departure from Hong Kong in 2016.
- 68.
“A 10-year Assessment of a Controlled Trial Comparing Debridement and Anterior Spinal Fusion in the Management of Tuberculosis of the Spine in Patients on Standard Chemotherapy in Hong Kong,” The Journal of Bone and Spine Surgery, Vol. 64-B, No. 4, 1982.
- 69.
Ibid.
- 70.
“A 15-year Assessment of Controlled Trials of the Management of Tuberculosis of the Spine in Korea and Hong Kong,” Journal of Bone and Spine Surgery, Vol. 80-B, 1998, pp. 456–62.
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Ching, F. (2018). The Hong Kong Operation. In: 130 Years of Medicine in Hong Kong. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6316-9_10
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