Joseph J. Czarnecki, MD

Orthopaedic Surgeon
To schedule an appointment, please call 781.782.1337.

Congratulations Dr. Czarnecki!!

Medical Secretary

Gianna Palmerino
781.782.1361

Surgery Coordinator

Alex Chace
781.782.1310

Joseph J. Czarnecki, MD

My interest in shoulder conditions includes arthroscopic rotator cuff, instability, labral, AC joint and cartilage repairs.

For the knee, my focus is on advanced cartilage repair including matrix-induced autologous chondrocyte implantation (MACI), osteochondral autograft and allograft reconstruction, anterior and posterior cruciate ligament (ACL/PCL) and other knee ligament reconstructions, meniscal repair and reconstruction, and patellofemoral joint problems such as instability and chondral defects, including osteotomies and medial patellofemoral ligament (MPFL) reconstructions.

For the hip, I specialize in arthroscopic treatment of labral tears and femoro-acetabular impingement (FAI) as well as hip tendon tears including endoscopic proximal hamstring and abductor tendon repairs.

For the ankle, my interests include the treatment of cartilage lesions, tendon injuries, and instability.

Non-surgical treatment methods that we utilize to treat these joints also include the use of ultrasound-guided joint injections, platelet-rich plasma (PRP) and stem cell injections.

My hobbies include striper and tuna fishing, snorkeling and playing sports with my three sons.

  • Dr. Czarnecki was one of the first surgeons in New England to perform ACL reconstructions using quadriceps tendon autograft
  • Dr. Czarnecki is one of a handful of surgeons in the US who performs endoscopic proximal hamstring repairs. This innovative technique reattaches torn hamstring tendons to the pelvis using three tiny incisions instead of a large 9" incision, causing much less pain with lower complication rate
  • Dr. Czarnecki continues to teach Orthopaedic Residents from the Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Program
  • Dr. Czarnecki serves as faculty for the Arthroscopy Association of North America teaching residents, fellows and practicing Orthopaedic Surgeons

Surgical Outcome System (SOS)

This Surgical Outcome study is an international study that Dr. Czarnecki asks you to participate in as a way for him to monitor patient outcomes for 2 years after your surgery. Traditional research takes years to provide information about best treatments and focuses upon X-rays and MRI’s. This study focuses upon you - the patient - and the impact of treatment upon your function. It allows for real-time review for sports medicine procedures, leading to more timely decision making about cutting edge treatments.

You will be asked to complete an online pre-surgery questionnaire.  You will then receive subsequent short surveys via email after your surgery with follow up questions about how you are doing.  In participating in this study, you will be helping Dr. Czarnecki to better understand how his patients perform after each surgery to better understand your overall improvement, pain management as well as long term functionality and satisfaction. It may seem overwhelming initially, but you can quickly get the hang of it, and we sincerely appreciate your participation! For more information, visit https://surgicaloutcomesystem.com/

  • Haverford College, Haverford, PA – BA 1991
  • Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, PA – MD 1995
  • General Surgery, Mass General Hospital, Boston, MA – 1995-1996
  • Staff Physician, US Air Force, Dyess AFB, Abilene, TX – 1996-2000
  • Harvard Combined Orthopaedic Residency, Boston, MA – 2000-2004
  • Harvard / Massachusetts General Hospital Sports Medicine and Shoulder Surgery Fellowship, Boston, MA – 2004-2005
  • American Board of Orthopaedic Surgery – 2007, 2017
  • ABOS Subspecialty Certification in Sports Medicine – 2010, 2017
  • Arthroscopy Association of North America, Associate Instructor – 2016 to present
  • Honors: Magna Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, Hobart Amory Hare Honor Medical Society

An especially heartfelt testimony . . .

Dear Dr. Czarnecki,

I am writing to thank you for your exceptional care of my daughter this past year with her ACL/Meniscus injury.  You were so caring and kind right from the beginning of this long journey.  We knew you were the right surgeon for her as soon as we left your office the very first appt.  You took the time to explain everything to us.  You patiently answered all of our questions. You spoke to her directly as well as taking the time to explain things to me.  With every appt, you made her feel good about her efforts and it motivated her to continue the hard work.  Your words of praise meant a lot to her.

We are forever grateful to you!  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for the love, the care and the kindness through it all. It was a long journey but you guided her toward the right path slowly but surely.  And for that we thank you!

Fondly, J.L.

Another wonderful testimony . . .

After dealing with a very unstable shoulder for the last 18 years from a traumatic fall I finally decided that it was time to fix it. As someone who is very active it was important to me to find a surgeon who was thorough, talented but also compassionate. Dr. Czarnecki was incredibly kind from my first appointment and has a very calm yet confident presence. He was well aware how anxious I was for surgery and helped put my mind at ease several times, including when I was being wheeled into the OR. I also greatly appreciated him taking the time to explain exactly what was wrong with my shoulder and what procedure he would perform to fix it. There are a lot of surgeons and doctors out there to choose from, there are a lot who are very talented at what they do, but there are very few who possess the caring and compassionate side towards patients and Dr. Czarnecki is one of the few who checks all those boxes. I'm truly grateful to Dr. Czarnecki and his amazing staff at Winchester Hospital and I'm looking forward to rehabbing this shoulder and coming back stronger than I was before.

S.P. October 2023

Videos

In this video, Dr. Czarnecki demonstrates an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstruction using graft from the patient’s own quadriceps tendon. Using your own tissue (autograft) demonstrates a lower re-injury rate than using a cadaver graft (allograft.) This graft is a partial thickness graft so the architecture of the original quadriceps tendon remains intact. It also allows for a larger graft than hamstring tendons, and a thicker graft than the patellar tendon.

Dr. Czarnecki performs shoulder arthroscopic repair on an athlete with a significant injury after a shoulder dislocation that damaged the anterior and posterior labrum, also creating a cartilage injury on the glenoid socket as well as partial tear of the rotator cuff, and chronic bursitis.

Dr. Czarnecki performs knee arthroscopy on a 16-year-old female athlete for osteochondritis dissecans (OCD) of the medial femoral condyle (MFC) with internal fixation and bone grafting.

In this minimally invasive technique, Dr. Czarnecki repairs a chronic partial tear of the proximal hamstring tendon in a marathon runner. Rather than use an 8-10 inch open incision, three tiny portals are used to complete the repair. There is much less pain, and lower complications with this endoscopic repair technique that few surgeons perform.

Check out a clip of Dr. Czarnecki on WBZ News explaining the ConforMIS Total Knee Replacement Surgery!

Success Stories and Testimonials