Pavlik: The Man and His Method

Abstract

Because of the high rate of avascular necrosis, Pavlik developed his harness and method of treating developmental dysplasia of the hip in infants. This historical review highlights Pavlik's career from the time he worked with Frejka and then later in his own clinic in Olomouc, Czech Republic (1938). In the 1950s, he wrote five articles on the results of his harness use in developmental dysplasia of the hip. Subsequently, Pavlik's harness has become the orthosis of choice worldwide for treatment of infants with hip dysplasia because of the principles he espoused.