Heavy traction treatment was applied to seven patients with old isolated
posterior dislocation of the hip. Traction of seven to eighteen kilograms
applied under sedation for five to seventeen days allowed over-reduction of
the dislocation. Then gradual reduction of the femoral head into the
acetabulum was accomplished by reducing the traction and abducting the
limb. The results were good to excellent. In six patients there was no
evidence of avascular necrosis or osteoarthritis during a follow-up period
of from six months to three years. The femoral heads became fully
concentric. The method failed in one patient in whom the dislocation was of
nine months' duration and in whome a comminuted fracture of the acetabulum
and other fractures of the pelvis were also present.