Camren Offenberger is a bit of a celebrity in his hometown. A big fan of Ohio’s winningest football team, the Massillon Tigers, he served as the team’s honorary captain from 2017-2019 from ages 7 to 9. Now 13 years old and a 7th grader at Massillon Jr. High School, Camren is getting ready to launch […]
Record-breaking comeback for Marlington athlete
In 2020, Connor Evanich was a three-sport athlete at Marlington High School. As he entered his junior year, he knew he wanted to play a sport in college, but a leg and knee injury caused him to reevaluate how he’d get there. Connor stayed committed to his goal and, with the help of his Akron […]
Shilla (growth) rods allow young scoliosis patient to continue to grow
At the tender age of 24 hours old, Isaac Lauper underwent his very first surgery at Akron Children’s Hospital. Born with spina bifida myelomeningocele (a neural tube defect where the spine is exposed), Isaacs’s spine needed to be surgically closed after birth. Due to many other conditions that are secondary to his spina bifida, Isaac […]
Akron Children’s orthopedic surgeons reduce opioid prescriptions by 54 percent
As the opioid crisis grew into a national epidemic, the nine pediatric orthopedic surgeons at Akron Children’s began analyzing their own pain prescribing practices and how they compared with peers. This led to a standardized protocol that has reduced the amount of narcotics being prescribed by 54 percent. “The opioid epidemic, a multifactorial issue with […]
Wellness visit leads to early treatment of baby’s hip dysplasia
The first time Adalyn Mandich’s parents heard her hips “click,” they were at her newborn wellness visit at Akron Children’s Hospital Pediatrics in Barberton. Dr. Kimberly Shookman, pediatrician, was examining 4-day-old Adalyn from head to toe. When Dr. Shookman did an Ortolani test and Barlow maneuver, 2 standard procedures used to test for developmental dysplasia […]
Hip dysplasia in kids: best to catch it when they’re young
Hip dysplasia is fairly common in infants and most often can be corrected without surgery. But in some cases, orthopedic surgeons need to maneuver the ball of the hip into the socket, and put the child in a body cast to keep the joint aligned. Karissa Douglas, a 9-year-old from Massillon, went through the procedure […]
