Before the development of the halo-pelvic apparatus, treatment of severe tuberculous kyphosis was difficult and dangerous. With the halo-pelvic distraction technique, surgical correction is relatively easier and produces more rewarding results. Thirty patients with kyphotic deformities averaging 115.5 degrees were treated by halo-pelvic distraction and surgical correction. The average amount of correction obtained was 28.3 per cent. Inexperience in our early cases with the halo-pelvic distraction apparatus and the postoperative management of patients with such poor pulmonary function resulted in the death of three patients and alarming problems in the cervical spine. We have modified our management routine to overcome these problems.