Doctors will apply weight to the spine, and gradually increase it over time, slowly straightening and stretching it.

Following the procedure, it is common for a surgical operation such as spinal fusion surgery to be performed afterward to permanently mend the issue.

[20][21][22] To perform halo-traction therapy a surgeon will use six to ten small pins to attach a "halo" made of a metal ring to the patient's skull.

They can leave for activities such as repositioning, changing clothes, daily medical care, showering, or using the toilet.

After ending treatment the patient is required to avoid strenuous activities for a few months as their spine and muscles will still need to recover.

[29]: 385 [32] Patients who have undergone the procedure report that they have a greater ability to stand upright, an increased appetite, and an improved body image.

[36] This may occur since HGT can correct issues associated with spinal deformities, such as exercise, comorbid metabolic disorders, and gastrointestinal malformations.

One rare, but serious complication of the procedure can be the development of intra-cranial abscesses due to septic contamination of the pin site.

[15] If the traction that is applied is greater than the tolerable amount, the patient may feel cervical pain, cranial nerve lesions, nausea, vertigo,[40] or dizziness.

Children are less likely than adolescents or adults to experience neurological side effects, due to the softness and flexibility of their spine, as well as their low weight.

[44] Another study published in the Journal of Spinal Disorders & Techniques found that patients may experience Erb's palsy or sensory loss during or after treatment.

[45] One 2016 clinical study published in BioMed Research International found that HGT resulted in reduced bone density among patients with kyphoscoliosis.

[29]: 385  Osteoporosis is considered a contraindication that sometimes may prevent treatment, however, doctors may avert complications by utilizing more pins with a lower torque.

[12] One 2013 study on 33 patients published in the journal Spine Deformity found an average correction rate of 33% for coronal curves and 35% for sagittal.

[51] According to a cohort study conducted on 75 subjects investigating the efficacy of Halo traction therapy found an improvement rate of 31% to 66% for the spine.

[52] One study conducted on 20 patients with either scoliosis, kyphosis, or kyphoscoliosis found that the most improvement occurred within the first 3 weeks of treatment.

[54] Much of the research utilized as evidence of the efficacy of HGT has been criticized for a lack of a control group and a small sample size.

[56] Paul Sponseller, an Orthopedic surgeon at Johns Hopkins University, claims in his study "The use of traction in the treatment of severe spinal deformity" that his research found "no statistically significant difference in main coronal curve correction (62% vs. 59%), operative time, blood loss, and total complication rate (27% vs.

The researchers concluded that this difference was not statistically significant, and therefore HGT should not be used as the general treatment for these issues, and should be reserved for specific cases.

[60] In the study by Paul Sponsellor, he found that patients who had undergone HGT spent almost twice the amount of time hospitalized as those who had not received the treatment.

It is less likely to produce significant complications such as blood loss,[59][61] neurological side effects, and spine stiffness or degeneration.

[62] HGT also allows patients to remain social and active, whilst other forms of traction severely restrict movement.

[63] These reasons have led to HGT becoming the standard preoperative treatment for patients with severe spinal deformities.