'POPS' Stands for More Than Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic Services

Department Known by a Short Acronym Fills Tall Orders with Life-changing Services

Pediatric Orthotic and Prosthetic Services (POPS) – Southeast, LLC, at Shriners Hospitals for Children — Greenville is an in-house resource, providing care for our patients who have limb deficiencies or bracing needs from infancy to 18 years of age. The experienced and certified Greenville POPS department staff provides upper and lower orthotics and prosthetics, as well as spinal orthotic services for a wide spectrum of orthopaedic conditions, including congenital and acquired limb deficiencies, disease, infection and trauma.

The POPS team is devoted to designing braces, artificial arms and legs, and adaptive devices that give children the ability to pursue their dreams. The specially-trained orthotic and prosthetic specialists take the time to get to know each child. A visit to POPS is about more than measurements and mechanics; it is about sharing hopes and aspirations, and providing information that allows the technicians to return to the lab and design the perfect device.

Patients seen by doctors in the Greenville Shriners Hospital clinic have access to the POPS department on the same day. No time is lost scheduling a special appointment or driving to a different facility. The Greenville POPS department clinical team is exclusively devoted to pediatric orthotic and prosthetic care.

Fabrication

The lab provides the most current treatment and materials, and utilizes the latest in computer assisted design (CAD) technology to create and fabricate unique orthotic and prosthetic devices for growing children. The lab’s young patients can customize their devices. The children often pick favorite patterns such as cartoon characters, sports teams, princesses or pink camouflage to decorate the surface of a leg brace or limb sockets.

Team approach

The orthotic and prosthetic specialists work side-by-side with physicians in the clinic and coordinate directly with physical and occupational therapists to ensure that the device they design is the right fit and function.

Continuity of care

At Shriners Hospitals for Children — Greenville, care continues from birth through adulthood, allowing all clinicians – from doctors to the orthotist and prosthesist – to evaluate all phases of a child’s growth and development. The long-term relationships between patients, parents and health care providers results in more personal, higher quality care.

Certification

POPS department staff members are certified by the American Board for Certification in Orthotics, Prosthetics, and Pedorthics. The staff members regularly attend continuing education seminars to stay up-to-date with current practices and techniques.

Philanthropy

A child with scoliosis might progress through over a dozen back braces during their care. A young girl with aspirations of playing competitive sports might need a sophisticated blade prosthetic. These are just two of the myriad of special cases our POPS department team experiences each day. Philanthropy enables prosthetic and orthotic technicians to construct devices so children can chase their dreams of dancing competitively, playing sports or mastering the violin.