[Protocol for the use of Pavlik harness in the treatment of congenital dislocation and dysplasia of the hip].

The authors wanted to establish a protocol of use of Pavlik's harness and check ots efficiency with as few complications as possible for the ambulatory treatment of congenital dislocation and dysplasia of the hip. To achieve this, they studied 41 hips in 37 children. They noted 2 failures of reduction, 2 failures of stabilization, 2 cases of osteochondritis and 1 transitory crural paresis. It should be noted that reduction failed and osteochondritis and crural paresis occurred in one and the same child. The other children, ie. 36 hips, had a quite favorable evolution without any stay in hospital, and reduction and stabilization were permanent. This confirms the merits of Pavlik's harness and the low rate of iatrogenic complications. The authors propose a starting, observation and termination procedure for the treatment. However, it still is difficult to define how long stabilization will take and to specify the indication for the treatment of a possible residual dysplasia.