From April 1977 through September 1980 at the University of Texas Medical Branch, 10 cerebral palsied individuals with total body involvement were surgically treated for their scoliosis. Each underwent L-rod instrumentation either as a definitive procedure or as the second surgery in a two-staged correction and arthrodesis. The average age of the group was 15.6 years and the average curve severity 70.8 degrees. An average correction of 59.9% or 41.5 degrees was obtained; two-stage procedures averaged 7.2 degrees correction per segment as contrasted with 5.4 degrees for single stage surgery. Most patients had regained their preoperative level of function within 2 weeks after L-rod instrumentation. At an average follow-up interval of 2.73 years, all have a solid spinal arthrodesis. On the basis of this experience, we feel that L-rod instrumentation is a more effective adjunct in the surgical management of cerebral palsy scoliosis than combined Harrington-Dwyer instrumentations.