Shrine Center hosts free orthopedic clinic

The Kerak Shrine Center will host a free orthopedic screening clinic 9 a.m.-noon Saturday at the Sierra Surgery Hospital, 1400 Medical Pkwy., Carson City.

The clinic is for children, birth to 18 years, who have been referred by a school nurse for scoliosis or whose parents suspect an orthopedic problem. The Shriners will screen as many children as attend the Saturday event, he said.

"We've had them come in with six fingers or toes," said hospital screening clinic chairman Bob Puhlman, of the Kerak Shriners. "There have been all kinds of problems we've referred.

Screenings will be conducted by an orthopedic surgeon and nurses, who will look for the signs of orthopedic problems such as scoliosis, which refers to a curvature of the spine.

For more information, call 775-283-3651.

Orthopedics is a branch of medical science that deals with prevention or correction of disorders involving structures of the body, including the skeleton, joints, muscles, connective tissue and other supporting structures.