haines md website bio

Dr. Colin Haines

Spine Surgeon
Director of Research

WHY I BECAME A SPINE SURGEON

My ambition to become a spine surgeon began at a young age when I suffered a lumbar disc herniation while playing soccer. After recovering successfully without surgery, I was profoundly impacted by the power of non-surgical treatment. This experience fueled my desire to personally connect with patients, working together to create a tailored treatment plan that will achieve their goals for recovery.

Dr. Haines utilizes modern technology to provide safer and more effective solutions to restore the quality of life for those suffering from neck and back conditions. Dr. Haines performed the world’s first combined endoscopic and robot-guided spine surgery. His patient success has earned him national features on The Today Show and Buzzfeed and ‘Top Doctor‘ recognition in consecutive years. His world-class surgical expertise is also complemented by an extensive portfolio of advanced non-surgical treatments including natural healing through regenerative medicine.

Leading the nation in the most minimally invasive surgeries, he prides himself on the ability to customize treatments to meet each patient’s unique anatomy and goals for recovery. Dr. Haines is a renowned expert in diagnosing and treating Bertolotti syndrome, a unique and often misunderstood spinal condition. With a deep understanding of the intricacies of this condition, Dr. Haines has a deep understanding of the emotional and physical challenges these patients face. Many suffering from Bertolotti syndrome have failed to find proper diagnosis and treatment elsewhere, and patients can trust Dr. Haines to provide innovative treatment options that they may not have been offered before. This provides hope and relief for those impacted by this challenging condition.

Known for his compassion and humility he works to connect with patients to learn more about their life goals for recovery. His ability to get to their level and fully uncover what their needs are allows him to more effectively create a custom treatment and serves as a resource and support through recovery.

While 90% of Dr. Haines’ patients overcome their pain without surgery, when surgical intervention is necessary, he utilizes ultra-minimally invasive surgical techniques that improve patient safety and dramatically reduce recovery time. These techniques include robot-guided spine surgery, augmented reality (AR), ultrasonic spine surgery, and laser spine surgery. He is a nationally leading expert in endoscopic spine surgery. Additionally, Dr. Haines promotes motion preservation through the use of single and multi-level disc replacements and is currently a lead investigator for an FDA trial for cervical disc replacements.

As the Director of Research at VSI, Dr. Haines actively facilitates national research studies to advance effective treatment options for his patients. Notably, he was involved in the largest study on professional baseball players with back pain and is currently leading multiple FDA trials on cervical disc implants. Dr. Haines is a frequent presenter at international conferences, and his research findings can be found in esteemed textbook chapters and peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Haines masters the balancing act between his demanding career, being active in his fitness and wellness, and being a family man and proud father of three daughters. He is active on the Peloton, running, and playing tennis and pickleball.

College

  • Bucknell University

Medical School

  • University of Buffalo, School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences

Residency

  • Orthopaedic Surgery, The George Washington University Hospital

Fellowship

  • Spine Surgery, The Cleveland Clinic

Board Certified

  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery

Affiliations

  • Fellow, American College of Surgeons
  • BioMed Research International Journal, Reviewer
  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery
  • AO Spine
  • North American Spine Society, Reviewer
  • Reston Hospital Center Medical Executive Committee, Member-at-Large

Dr. Haines’ Surgical Highlights

  • First in the Mid-Atlantic region to utilize the Mazor X™ System for transformative robotic spine surgery
  • World’s First Combined Endoscopic & Robot-Guided Surgery
  • First Endoscopic Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Performed at Reston Hospital Center
  • First Robotic Spine Surgery in the World Using the Mazor X™ Stealth Edition
  • Performed World’s First Combined Endoscopic & Robot-Guided Surgery
  • American College of Spine Surgeons, First Place in Research Competition

Recent Research

Global Spine Journal – 2022 Best Paper Award research on augmented reality(AR). The Journal’s Editor-in-Chief has announced the paper “Augmented Reality-Assisted Spine Surgery: An Early Experience Demonstrating Safety and Accuracy with 218 Screws” has won a Global Spine Journal’s 2022 Best Paper Award.


Cervical Hybrid Constructs Reduce Superior Adjacent Segment Burden Compared to Multilevel Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion

Journal of Spine Surgery (2024)


Augmented Reality-Assisted Spine Surgery: An Early Experience Demonstrating Safety and Accuracy with 218 Screws

Global Spine Journal, Best Paper 2022 (January 2022)


90-Day Complication and Revision Surgery Rates Using Navigated Robotics in Thoracolumbar Spine Surgery

Podium Presentation at the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery, San Francisco, California, Best Paper 2023 (June 2023)


Which is Better: Percutaneous or Open Robot-Assisted Spine Surgery? Prospective, Multicenter Study of 2,524 Screws in 336 Patients 

Podium Presentation at the International Meeting on Advanced Spine Techniques, Dublin, Ireland (March 2023)


Opioid Use After Elective Spine Surgery: Do Spine Surgery Patients Consume Less than Prescribed Today? 

North American Spine Society Journal (November 2022)


Opioid Utilization After Elective Spine Surgery: How Many Pills Are Leftover?

Podium Presentation at the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chicago, IL (March 2022)

What Patients Are Saying

Google
5.0/5
Mar 8, 2024
Google - SpineMD
I suffered with a collapsed disc for about 5 years. I got to the point where I could only do about 3 hours of mild physical work a day due to extreme pain. I enjoy working with my hands and this put a real damper on my life. Dr. Haines did a disc replacement on my lower back 3 months ago. Today I am pain free and looking to get back to life again. God bless this man and his team! Thank you again!
Google
5.0/5
Feb 26, 2024
Google - SpineMD
I saw Dr. Haines for a herniated disc in my lumbar spine. Let me tell you, what an amazing experience. After multiple months with difficulty walking, physical therapy, and injections, I finally decided to go through with surgery, which turned out to be a success! Dr. Haines not only excels at his profession, but you can tell he loves what he is doing. I highly recommend this practice! This guy is great!!
Google
5.0/5
Feb 18, 2024
Google - SpineMD
Excellent experience, everyone in the office is very friendly and helpful! Dr. Haines and his group provided the help I need to get back to my old self.
Vitals
5.0/5
Feb 2, 2024
Vitals - SpineMD
Extremely personable, helpful, and just an all around amazing doctor/surgeon/person, He has been so wonderful and so helpful, did two spine surgeries and I have never felt better. Been to so many doctors, chiropractors, physical therapist and he found the answer and fixed it!
HealthGrades
5.0/5
Feb 2, 2024
HealthGrades - SpineMD
He has been so wonderful and so helpful, did two spine surgeries and I have never felt better. Been to so many doctors, chiropractors, physical therapist and he found the answer and fixed it!
Google
5.0/5
Jan 23, 2024
Google - SpineMD
I found Dr. Haines when I started searching for a better answer to my lower back problems than the fusion options I had been given. I reached out to his team in VA and they were quick to setup a telehealth call to go over my issues and schedule me for further diagnostics. The process for diagnostic and proper diagnosis was much faster than I had expected, which is rare these days and much appreciated considering the amount of pain I was in. In Oct. 2021 Dr. Haines performed a double discetomy of my L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs and replaced them with artificial discs. I was back at my hotel in 24 hours and home in TN within 72 hours. It's been over two years and I still enjoy all my favorite extreme sports and was even snowboarding in March of 2022 with no complications. Dr. Haines and his staff were all extremely professional, friendly, and communicated faster than any other medical team I have dealt with. I would recommend anyone that is looking into artificial disc replacement as a solution to their back issues to consult with his team.
Google
5.0/5
Jan 19, 2024
Google - SpineMD
Highly recommend Dr. Haines. Great, caring Dr. who finally resolved my back and nerve pain after years of previous other surgeries and treatments.
HealthGrades
5.0/5
Jan 18, 2024
HealthGrades - SpineMD
I have seen Dr Haines for several years. He was helpful and never pushed any treatment I was not comfortable with. When my back got worse he was supportive and reassuring with the decision to proceed with surgery. The experience of the surgery was intimidating, but in the end everything was easier than expected. I could not be happier with the outcome so far.
Google
5.0/5
Jan 18, 2024
Google - SpineMD
Dr. Haines and his staff are wonderful to interact with. Dr. Haines has taken time to lay out my personal treatment options and allowed me to choose my own best course of action and timelines that work for me and my family. Ultimately my case did result in surgery. The surgical skill demonstrated by Dr. Haines and his patient interactions and follow up have been excellent. I am extremely happy to have found Dr. Haines to help me with my back issues and for the first time in years feel on my way to backpain free living.
Vitals
5.0/5
Jan 17, 2024
Vitals - SpineMD
I have felt listened to and cared for through as my back got worse all the way through surgery., I have seen Dr Haines for several years. He was helpful and never pushed any treatment I was not comfortable with. When my back got worse he was supportive and reassuring with the decision to proceed with surgery. The experience of the surgery was intimidating, but in the end everything was easier than expected. I could not be happier with the outcome so far.

Dr. Haines’ Resources

Empowering Patients with Knowledge and Hope for a Pain-Free Life

Videos

As Seen on Fox5 DC: Your Guide to a Pain Free Holiday

Patient Victories

When Back Pain is Nothing to ‘Cheer’ About

Videos

As Seen on DC News Now: Preventing Sports Injuries & More

Join the Patients We’ve Helped on the Road to Recovery