Preoperative skeletal traction as an aid in reduction of congenital hip
dislocation in the older child has been associated with an unacceptably
high incidence of avascular necrosis, redislocation, and poor results. In
contrast, femoral shortening as an aid in reduction has yielded a high rate
of very satisfactory results, and may be essential for obtaining a stable,
physiological, non-compressive reduction. We have analyzed the
complications and the radiographic and functional outcomes of treatment in
thirty-nine hips. It was clearly demonstrated that femoral diaphyseal
shortening was preferable to traction as an aid in the operative reduction
of a congenitally dislocated hip in children who were more than three years
old.