Many orthopedic surgeons agree that the most important problem on the treatment of supracondylar fracture of the humerus is to prevent varus deformity of the elbow.
As a closed treatment, veritcal traction and Dunlop's traction are widely used. We had experienced that the vertical traction showed some difficulties to correct rotation or angulation deformity and to maintain correct position of the fragments, and that the Dunlop's traction resulted some degree of circulatory disturbance and also has a possibility of causing the radial, ulnar, or median nerve palsy.
To prevent these disadvantages we established the new vertical traction method with slightly flexed position of the elbow.
Eleven patients with fresh supracondylar fracture of the humerus were treated with this method after manipulative reduction, and the excellent anatomical and functional results were obtained in all cases.