Halo-clavicle traction.

A case is presented employing a modification of the halo traction technique using clavicle and scapular based pins attached through Hoffmann spacing bars to a standard halo frame. Other techniques that have been employed for fractures and dislocations of the cervical spine are reviewed. The principle advantages are the satisfactory stability it affords and the access the technique provides to the torso. The major problem anticipated of loosening of pins or instability of the apparatus because of the mobile clavicle and scapula did not occur in this patient. The halo-clavicle traction is a needed alternative to more conventional methods of stabilizing the spine.