Dr. Jeff Donner’s eyes light up when he speaks about his practice and even more when he refers to his patients. He states, “30 years of practice and I am still passionate about my patients and resolving their pain.”
Having experienced numerous spine and joint injuries himself starting as a junior high school athlete and with more injuries following him throughout his life, he knows first-hand what real pain feels like and how removing that pain can make such a difference in the quality of people’s lives. “WE’VE GOT YOUR BACK” – while a clever play on words, is visible in his office and on his website, colospine.com. After meeting him, it is obvious that Dr. Donner and his staff take that motto very seriously.
Dr. Donner and his team specialize in the diagnosis and treatment of spine pain involving the entire spine, including the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, and sacroiliac areas as well as all extremities and joints. He has over 30 years of experience performing thousands of spinal and orthopedic surgeries using many innovative surgical techniques to help patients suffering from disabling pain. He is a member of numerous societies including the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, the North American Spine Society, the Spinal Arthroplasty Society, the International Spinal Intervention Society, and the International College of Surgeons. He holds a unique qualification in that he was recently re-certified through the American Board of Orthopedic Surgery via the spine specialist pathway and also through a very intensive certification with the American Board of Spine Surgery in 2014.
Dr. Donner is the ONLY spine surgeon north of the Denver metro area to have dual board certification, which further defines his commitment to the spinal field and ability to understand and treat complex spinal problems.
Chris Kottenstette, PA-C, PCE, has been a long-time fixture at Colorado Spine Institute, working hand in hand with Dr. Donner. He also is a long-time research partner with Dr. Donner. He started patient care as an athletic trainer for teens and college students and then moved to emergency services as a paramedic for 17 years. This led him to his training at the University of Utah Physician Assistant Program where proper pain treatment was initially instilled in him. Since 2001, Kottenstette has worked in the field of pain medicine. He is a past president of the Colorado Academy of Physician Assistants, and in 2003, he founded the PAs in Pain Medicine Special Interest Group of the American Academy of Physician Assistants, where he serves as president.
Dr. Donner also has extensive interest and experience in the diagnosis and treatment of patients with chronic disabling sacroiliac (SI) joint pain. They continue to research methods and technology to help successfully diagnose and treat these patients.
Dr. Donner co-founded SI-Technology, a spinal implant development company that develops innovative technology to diagnose and treat patients with chronic SI joint pain. The company’s headquarters are located at the Innosphere, the Fort Collins biomedical incubator, which is supported by the state of Colorado, Colorado State University, and the City of Fort Collins.
He has been issued over 30 national and international patents and are in the process of obtaining FDA clearance for effective minimally invasive sacroiliac stabilization and fusion technology. He continues to study and institute new and less invasive techniques and technology to help their patients return to active improved lifestyles with less pain.
Colorado Spine Institute contains several procedures suites in the building, a spotless in-house lab for never-ending research opportunities to improve the field of regenerative medicine where they have developed patent-pending technologies. They have a very comfortable waiting area for patients and their families including a cozy fireplace. Across the parking lot from the practice is the Arête Surgical Center, featuring three operating rooms, spacious pre-operative, pain management, and recovery areas, as well as overnight rooms, two large and comfortable waiting rooms that overlook the mountains, with plenty of parking.
Treatments that are available for conditions include (among others, which can be viewed on the practice website):
- Vertebral Augmentation– treatment for compression fractures of the vertebrae
- Regenerative Spine and Orthopedics – Dr. Donner and his team have developed programs and procedures to optimize natural healing and reduce the need for more invasive procedures. Through the use of the patients’ own live stem cells and other cellular components obtained from their own bone marrow, they can treat orthopedic conditions in the spine, elbows, shoulders, hips, knees, ankles, and SI joints.
- Epidural Steroid Injections
- Discograms
- Surgical Treatments
Dr. Donner encourages potential patients to do their homework and check out the clinic website, colospine.com, to see what treatments are available there.
Dr. Donner was asked at the end of the interview what he would like readers to take overall from this article. He responded quite quickly that he is dedicated to improving spine and orthopedic care using innovative technologies to decrease patient’s pain and suffering including the exciting field of minimally invasive surgery and regenerative medicine. He also emphasizes the patient has a lot of opportunities to help themselves through this process through improving their own health through a healthy, low inflammatory diet and low impact exercises.
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