Summit Spine & Joint Centers’ Braselton office, on Old Winder Highway, brings pain management in Braselton, GA, to patients across Hoschton, Auburn and the Mall of Georgia area of Gwinnett County. Six providers see patients here, one of the larger teams in the network, which helps keep wait times down even as the surrounding area keeps growing.
The team includes Dr. Daniel Colón-Conde, trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation in his native Puerto Rico before an interventional pain fellowship in Florida, and Dr. Adrian Birladeanu, who completed both his residency and an additional pain fellowship year at the University of South Florida. Dr. Venu Madhipatla and Dr. Kwasi Ampomah round out the physician side, with Emily Brooks, NP and Philipa Debrah-Pinamang, NP handling ongoing follow-up care.
This is also one of a small number of Summit Spine locations with its own in-house Surgery Center, so patients needing a more advanced procedure aren’t sent to an outside facility for it.
Most patients here are 40 and older, managing pain that’s built up gradually rather than pain from a single injury: arthritis, degenerative disc changes, or nerve pain a primary care visit hasn’t resolved. Insurance and workers’ compensation claims are verified ahead of the first visit, so coverage is confirmed before anyone walks in.
Conditions
Patients at the Braselton office come in with a range of neck, back and joint pain, including:
- Herniated Disc: disc material pressing outward against a nearby spinal nerve, often confirmed by MRI.
- Degenerative Disc Disease: the gradual loss of disc height and cushioning that comes with age.
- Lumbar Radiculopathy (Sciatica): nerve pain that tracks 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 Braselton office offers all 19 standard non-surgical treatments, plus two procedures available on-site through the Surgery Center:
- Lumbar Epidural Steroid Injection: an anti-inflammatory injection placed near an irritated lower-back nerve.
- Cervical Epidural Steroid Injection: the same treatment aimed at the neck.
- Lumbar Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection: an injection guided directly to a single affected nerve root.
- Facet Joint Injections: quiets pain and swelling in the spine’s connecting joints.
- Medial Branch Block: a diagnostic step that confirms which joint is actually the problem.
- Sacroiliac Joint Steroid Injection: for pain at the joint linking the spine and pelvis.
- Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA): heat used to quiet a nerve that’s sending pain signals.
- Lumbar Radiofrequency Neurotomy: a longer-lasting form of RFA for the lower back.
- Cervical Facet Radiofrequency Neurotomy: a longer-lasting form of RFA for the neck.
- Rhizotomy: disables a joint’s pain-carrying nerve fibers with controlled heat.
- Genicular Radiofrequency Ablation: targets nerves feeding a painful knee.
- Celiac Plexus Block: treats pain originating in the abdomen or digestive organs.
- Stellate Ganglion Block: treats nerve pain affecting the head, neck or arms.
- Lumbar Sympathetic Block: a set of spinal injections used to settle CRPS-driven leg pain over several sessions.
- Discography: an imaging study that identifies which disc is the pain source.
- MILD: a same-day procedure that removes pressure on a pinched nerve.
- Vertiflex Superion: a small implant that keeps a narrowed spinal canal open.
- Intrathecal Pump Implant: delivers low-dose pain medication straight to the spine.
- Back Pain Treatment: combines the options above into a plan built around the diagnosis.
- Kyphoplasty (in-house Surgery Center): rebuilds a fractured vertebra’s height and stability.
- Spinal Cord Stimulation (in-house Surgery Center): an implanted device that blocks chronic pain signals before they register.
The last two are performed on-site, without a referral to an outside surgical facility.
Providers
Six providers see patients at the Braselton office:
- Dr. Daniel Colón-Conde: trained in physical medicine and rehabilitation in Puerto Rico, with an interventional pain management fellowship completed at National Spine & Pain Centers in Florida.
- Dr. Adrian Birladeanu: double board-certified in physical medicine & rehabilitation and interventional pain medicine, with an additional ACGME pain fellowship year at the University of South Florida.
- Dr. Venu Madhipatla: triple board-certified in anesthesia, pain management and critical care, and a former Chief of Anesthesia and Pain Management in South Georgia.
- Dr. Kwasi Ampomah: a double board-certified physiatrist and interventional pain physician who also holds a master’s in public health from the University of Cincinnati.
- Emily Brooks, NP: a Gainesville, GA native with training in trigger point and nerve block injections.
- Philipa Debrah-Pinamang, NP: a board-certified family nurse practitioner with four years on a renal and oncology floor before joining Summit Spine.
Full bios are below.