Cartersville, GA

Summit Spine & Joint Centers’ Cartersville office brings pain management to Bartow County, along with nearby Cassville, Emerson and Taylorsville.

Two providers see patients here. Dr. Trusharth Patel spent nearly a decade at Emory University’s Center for Pain, serving as Director of Interventional Pain from 2014 to 2021 and Director of Clinical Operations from 2019 to 2021, before joining Summit Spine. Chenoa Dickerson, NP, brings a nursing background that spans a cardiology unit at Northside Cherokee and several years in home health care.

Most patients at the Cartersville office are 40 and older, managing arthritis, degenerative disc changes or nerve pain that a primary care visit hasn’t resolved. Insurance and workers’ compensation claims are verified before the first appointment, so coverage is confirmed ahead of time rather than sorted out in the waiting room.

A first visit at the Cartersville office starts with a review of medical history and any existing imaging, followed by a physical exam and a conversation about which of the treatments below fit the diagnosis, before any procedure is scheduled.

Conditions

Patients at the Cartersville office come in with a range of neck, back and joint pain, including:

• Herniated Disc: disc tissue pressing outward against a spinal nerve, often with pain running down an arm or leg.
• Degenerative Disc Disease: the gradual loss of disc height and cushioning that comes with age.
• Lumbar Radiculopathy (Sciatica): nerve pain tracking from the lower back down into the leg or foot.
• Spinal Stenosis: a tightening spinal canal that crowds the nerves running through it.
• Facet Joint Pain: wear in the small joints that let the spine flex and rotate.
• Post-Laminectomy Syndrome (Failed Back Syndrome): pain that persists after a prior spine surgery.
• Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS): ongoing nerve pain that outlasts the injury that triggered it.
• Fibromyalgia: widespread pain and tenderness without a single clear source.
• Back Pain: pain that hasn’t let up despite rest, medication or physical therapy.

Treatments

The Cartersville office offers all 19 standard non-surgical treatments:

• Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection: reduces swelling around an irritated nerve in the lower spine.
• Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection: an anti-inflammatory injection aimed at neck-level nerve irritation.
• Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection: steroid guided directly to one affected nerve root.
• Facet Joint Injections: calms swelling in the spine’s small connecting joints.
• Medial Branch Block: confirms which facet joint is causing the pain.
• Sacroiliac Joint Steroid Injection: treats pain at the joint linking the spine and pelvis.
• Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): heat used to quiet an overactive pain nerve.
• Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy: a heat-based nerve treatment for the lower back, built to outlast standard RFA.
• Cervical Facet Radiofrequency Neurotomy: the same heat-based nerve treatment used on neck joints instead.
• Rhizotomy: heat applied to disable a painful joint’s nerve supply.
• Genicular Radiofrequency Ablation: for knee pain that hasn’t responded to other treatments.
• Celiac Plexus Block: for pain originating in the abdomen or digestive organs.
• Stellate Ganglion Block: an injection near the neck that treats nerve pain radiating into the face or arms.
• Lumbar Sympathetic Block: an injection series for CRPS-related leg pain.
• Discography: an imaging study that identifies which disc is the actual pain source.
• MILD: an outpatient procedure for spinal stenosis that doesn’t involve an implant.
• Vertiflex Superion: a small spacer implanted to keep the spinal canal open.
• Intrathecal Pump Implant: an implanted pump that releases pain medication in small, steady doses at the spine.
• Back Pain Treatment: a plan built from the options above, based on the diagnosis.

Providers

2 providers see patients at the Cartersville office:

• Trusharth Patel, MD: double board-certified in anesthesiology and interventional pain medicine, and formerly Director of Interventional Pain at Emory University’s Center for Pain from 2014 to 2021.
• Chenoa Dickerson, NP: a certified family nurse practitioner whose nursing career began on a cardiology unit at Northside Cherokee before several years in home health care.

Full bios are below.