Roy Glenwood Spurling (Spurling variant)
Roy Glenwood Spurling (1894–1968) was an American neurosurgeon who described the Spurling test for cervical nerve-root compression and led U.S. Army neurosurgery in World War II.
Sourcing: strong 2 reference · 1 genealogy
Variant spelling: this person bears the related surname Spurling, not Spurlin.
Roy Glenwood Spurling (September 6, 1894 – February 7, 1968) was an American neurosurgeon, remembered for describing Spurling's test, a clinical maneuver for cervical nerve-root compression.[1][2]
Education
Born in Centralia, Missouri, Spurling studied at the University of Missouri (B.A. 1920, M.A. 1923) and earned his M.D. with honours from Harvard Medical School in 1923. He interned at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital under Harvey Cushing.[1]
Career
He became neurosurgical consultant to Louisville General Hospital in 1925 and led neurosurgery at the University of Louisville medical school from 1926 to 1960.[1] In World War II he was the first chief of neurosurgery at Walter Reed General Hospital. In March 1944 he was posted to London to oversee Army neurosurgery in the European theatre, and in 1945 he was among the doctors who treated General George S. Patton after his fatal car accident.[1]
Spurling wrote Practical Neurological Diagnosis (1935; later editions through 1960). He was a founding figure and president (1934) of the society that became the American Association of Neurological Surgeons, and a founder and president of the American Board of Neurological Surgery.[1] He also edited the Journal of Neurosurgery and later chaired its editorial board.[1] The University of Missouri gave him an honorary D.Sc. in 1957, and on his retirement the University of Louisville named him Distinguished Professor of Neurological Surgery.[1]
Spurling's test
In the test, the examiner presses down on the head while the patient's neck is extended and turned toward the painful side; neck pain that radiates along the matching dermatome on the same side counts as a positive sign of cervical nerve-root compression.[2] Wikipedia's article on the test reports mixed evidence on its accuracy. One study of 255 patients checked against electrodiagnostic testing found it 30% sensitive and 93% specific, which supports using it to confirm rather than screen for radiculopathy. A 2011 study of 257 patients checked against CT scans found it 95% sensitive and 94% specific.[2]
Death and burial
Wikipedia gives his death as February 7, 1968, in La Jolla, California.[1] A Find a Grave memorial for "Dr Roy Glen Spurling" gives the same birth and death dates, his birthplace as Centralia, Boone County, Missouri, and his place of death as San Diego County. It records his burial in El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego.[3]
See also
- Notable Spurlins · People strong
An index of notable people surnamed Spurlin, with related Spurling-surname figures listed separately as variants. - Spurling (surname) · The Surname strong
Spurling is the fuller spelling from which Spurlin derives. Unlike Spurlin, it is well established in England, Australia and especially Bermuda as well as the United States. - Spurling public officials (variant spelling) · People strong
Minor public officials and candidates with the related surname Spurling, including a 19th-century Maine postmaster, a 2004 Democratic National Convention alternate, a North Carolina town councilman and school-board member, and a Georgia county coroner. - Spurlins in public service · People strong
A roundup of people surnamed Spurlin (and, separately, Spurling) in government, politics, the military and the courts, from a 19th-century Indiana sheriff to a Kentucky utility commissioner and recent local candidates, with links to the individual articles. - Spurlins in the World Wars · History strong
Five Army soldiers surnamed Spurlin, from Alabama, Arizona, North Carolina and Texas, appear on the War Department's 1946 lists of World War II dead. Two are buried in American Battle Monuments Commission cemeteries in Italy and the Philippines.
References
- ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ ↑ Roy Glenwood Spurling — Wikipedia Reference
- ↑ ↑ ↑ Spurling's test — Wikipedia — procedure and accuracy studies Reference
- ↑ Dr Roy Glen Spurling (1894–1968) — Find a Grave Memorial — El Camino Memorial Park, San Diego Genealogy
Last reviewed 2026-09-24.