====== 1911 ====== [[1910]]-[[1912]] In [[1910]], Taylor ((Taylor AS. X. Unilateral Laminectomy. Ann Surg. 1910;51:529–33.)) described the [[hemilaminectomy]] technique. Posterior lateral mass fusion was later added to Albee ((Albee F. Transplantation of a portion of the tibia into the spine for Pott’s disease: a preliminary report. JAMA. 1911;57:885.)) and Hibbs’s technique in [[1911]] (( Hibbs RA. An operation for progressive spinal deformities. NY Med J. 1911;93:1013–6.)) , which remained the standard for 5 decades. This was first utilized for instability in patients with [[Pott’s disease]]. ---- Elsberg ((Elsberg CA. Observations upon a series of forty-three laminectomies. Ann Surg. 1912;55:217–26.)) described the successful decompression of [[lumbar spinal stenosis]] in [[1911]]. ---- Goldthwait was the first physician to delineate the etiopathogenesis between annulus rupture, symptoms of sciatica, and neurological signs in his publication of [[1911]]. Further publications by Middleton and Teacher in 1911 and [[Christian Georg Schmorl]] in [[1929]] added to the understanding of lumbar spinal pathologies. In [[1929]], the Swiss neurologist Veraguth (surgery performed by Hans Brun) and the American neurosurgeon [[Walter Edward Dandy]] both published their early experiences with the surgical therapy of a herniated lumbar disc. Veraguth's contribution, however, has not been appreciated internationally to date. The causal relationship between lumbar disc pathology and sciatica remained uncertain for some years to come. The causal relationship was not confirmed until Mixter and Barr's landmark paper in [[1934]] describing the association of sciatica and lumbar disc herniation, after which the surgical treatment became increasingly popular. Veraguth was among the first physicians to report on the clinical course of a patient with successful resection of a herniated lumbar disc. His observations should be acknowledged in view of the limited experience and literature on this ailment at that time ((Stienen MN, Surbeck W, Tröhler U, Hildebrandt G. Little-known Swiss contributions to the description, diagnosis, and surgery of lumbar disc disease before the Mixter and Barr era. J Neurosurg Spine. 2013 Dec;19(6):767-73. doi: 10.3171/2013.8.SPINE121008. Epub 2013 Sep 27. PubMed PMID: 24074509. )).