Champlain Spine and Pain Management

Living in a rural region like the North Country has many benefits, including being surrounded by natural beauty, a slower and healthier pace of life, and the sense that you are part of a community. However, that comes with drawbacks, especially when it comes to medical care. North Country residents must often travel to larger cities to receive the most cutting-edge medical treatments. This is now no longer the case when it comes to pain management.

Plattsburgh has now become the place to go to receive the most innovative treatments currently available anywhere for chronic pain conditions. In fact, people from as far as Ottawa, Buffalo and New York Citytravel to our city to receive care. Meet Champlain Spine and Pain Management and The Surgical Pain Centers of the Adirondacks. Champlain Spine and Pain Management (CSPM) opened its doors in 2004. It was founded by Dr. Thierry Bonnabesse, a native of France and a graduate from University of Vermont Medical School. Upon graduating from UVM, Dr. Bonnabesse headed west to California where he completed a residency in Physical Medical and Rehabilitation and, later, a fellowship in Pain. He then returned to the Northeast determined to start his own practice. “Those were exciting, but truly scary times. It felt like a significant risk, but the reception from the community was incredible,” he said.

Fast forward a few years, and now the practice has grown exponentially. In 2009, CSPM moved into its new clinic at 4 Feathers Drive in the Town of Plattsburgh, and in 2019 the Surgical Pain Center of the Adirondack (SPCA) opened to help bring Plattsburgh to the forefront of the treatment of pain. Bonnabesse explained, “Today patients lead busier lives than ever and there has been an even stronger demand from patients for more effective and less invasive treatments. No one wants to spend days in the hospital after a procedure or take tons of time off from work or every day activities.”

According to Bonnabesse, “A better understanding of human anatomy and advances in technology have resulted in the development of new treatment options that are usually performed in less than an hour and are more effective than previous ones with fewer complications. “Five years ago, I could only dream of what we can now offer our patients. There has been a mini revolution in this field that has transformed our approach to pain. For example, there is a muscle in the lower back that has been shown to malfunction and undergo severe atrophy in patients with low back pain. Unfortunately, this muscle does not respond well to exercise as it is mostly under involuntary control. Two years ago, a treatment called Reactive8 was launched in the U.S. to help rehabilitate this muscle, and the results have been spectacular. The procedure truly represents a paradigm shift in the treatment of low back pain, and we are very lucky to be only the third clinic in the country to launch with this company. (Other sites are Houston and Salt Lake City.) We are also involved in research with this treatment that we expect will be presented next year in New Orleans.” He added “The best part of using the options we have now is seeing a patient return to the clinic and tell us that now they can garden, walk and grocery shop without having to stop. It’s the most wonderful feeling in the world to be able to help someone who might be your neighbor, your employee’s mother or a nurse working locally.”

Another treatment that Bonnabesse talked about is called Discseel. It consists of injecting fibrin into a torn spinal disc to seal the tears of the disc and to help regenerate the disc naturally. It is not surgery, and it is all performed through a needle. Bonnabesse and his team were among a group of 13 physicians in the world to be trained in this procedure. “Discseel is truly one of my favorite procedures. The results have been excellent, and the best part is that it is not surgery, meaning lower risks of complications and a fast recovery. This is yet another innovative outpatient procedure where some people, depending on their jobs, can return to work within a few days.” Bonnabesse observed, “There is such strong demands for these procedures we have been receiving calls and inquiries from patients living as far away as Missouri to schedule appointments. These procedures are all FDA approved and covered by most insurance plans. The Department of Defense is also now covering Discseel in full for veterans. “Our results with Discseel have been nothing short of spectacular.”

Another procedure called MinuteMan that Bonnabesse offers consists of a new type of lumbar fusion where a small device is inserted in the spine from the side under XR guidance to fuse the spine. “The deep muscles of the back are spared and the bones of the spine are left intact (meaning no drilling through bone),” he explained. “The procedure is typically done in less than 30 minutes and patients go home the same day. This is another treatment option which was not available four or five years ago. “

“We now look for specific findings on MRIs that we were ignoring even three years ago because we did not know that they could cause pain,” Bonnabesse offered. “The Intracept procedure is a perfect example of that. It turns out that the bones adjacent to the discs of the spine can become swollen and painful when they are damaged or arthritic. We can now offer a one-time radio frequency ablation of the nerves that supply these bones to make the pain go away permanently.” Bonnabesse and his medical teams are experts in this procedure, and the Surgical pain Center of the Adirondacks has been designated a Center of Excellence for Intracept in the US.

Champlain Spine and Pain Management also offers treatment for other body parts beside the lower back and neck. Treatment is available for painful conditions affecting the limbs, the abdominal wall, the joints, headaches and even sport injuries. Bonnabesse emphasized, “We see patients daily with pain in their hip, knee, shoulder, and wrist as well as carpal tunnel syndrome, and even the lower abdomen and pelvic pain. I remember this lady who came once complaining with severe pelvic pain during her periods which would last three weeks. She was in so much pain. We were able to give her complete relief for one year at a time with a tiny injection around her tail bone area.”

He also mentioned another patient who had undergone 32 abdominal surgeries and was still having so much pain. “We were able to diagnose her source of pain and, under ultrasound guidance, we performed trigger point injections which gave her 100% relief for several months at a time”.

Dr Bonnabesse also talked about PNS (peripheral nerve stimulation). “Breakthroughs in technology with everything getting smaller and more powerful have allowed us to give our patients long term, durable, effective treatment options for chronic joint pain before or after joint replacement surgery, as well as diabetic peripheral neuropathy, failed back syndrome after spinal surgery, chronic regional pain syndrome, and many other conditions. Many people have heard about spinal cord stimulators which have been around since the 1960’s. Almost no one knows about peripheral stimulators. They became available to patients about two years ago, and we use them successfully for all types of chronic pain conditions. The implanted battery is about the size of a dime.”

The latest treatment option available at CSPM is a Class 4 laser therapy the practice just acquired. “Until now these powerful laser machines were only available to professional sports teams or top college athletic departments. They are used to speed up recovery after surgery or sport injuries and to treat chronic conditions such as arthritis, tendinopathy and cartilage tears. The Class 4 lasers are 100 – 200 times more powerful than traditional lasers, and they penetrate several centimeters inside the body instead a couple of millimeters. The laser beams reach the inside of the cells and speed the recovery process by affecting a variety of cellular components including the mitochondria which play a key role in the healing process. We are the first clinic in Upstate New York and Vermont to offer this laser treatment.”

Champlain Spine and Pain management, as well as the Surgical Pain Center of the Adirondacks, have come a long way since they first opened in 2004. Reflecting on the past 20 + years, Dr. Bonnabesse stated, “We are lucky to be in this field of medicine currently. The changes have enabled us to help so many more patients than we could have just even two or three years ago. It has been an amazing and exciting journey. I am very proud of my wonderful staff, and of the fact that we are now at the very top of our field, offering treatments that are not available anywhere in else the region and sometimes only in a few places in the country. It shows that Plattsburgh and the North Country can be a destination for top medical care.”