Dr. Charles Alfred Hartjen, MD

Dr. Hartjen performed a fusion on my lower back and I have been very pleased with the results. He was recommended by a family friend who has surgery by him as well. He is known for his skills in the operating room, which is why I chose him for my surgery.

Dr. Hartken lacks any compassion. If you need anything after 5pm, forget it, he never will return a call. Not sure how he stays employed. My husband suffered much and he forgot to prescribe his medicine before he left. Sadly. my husband had to suffer all night long.

Dr. Hartjen has performed three operations on my lumbar spine over twenty-one years. Each condition was essentially unrelated to the others and each procedure resulted in complete relief of pain and associated symptoms, which included, in separate cases, a condition called spondylolisthesis, muscle spasms, pinched nerves and leg numbness and weakness resulting in frequent falls. Prospective patients will find Dr. Hartjen to be very self-confident, thoughtful, thorough, talented and surgically conservative.

Absolutely brilliant surgeon.

Dr. Hartjen helped me over the years deal with my chronic back pain, and recently performed a limbar fusion on myself. I could be happier with the results. He was recommended by a family friend who is a physician, and he certianly is an expert in his field. Could not be more grateful and would recommend to any of my family. Thanks Dr. H!

I had spinal stenosis, progressive pain for about 10 yrs.; finally had X-stop surgery with Dr. Hartjen with excellent results; pain -free 10 yrs. later. He is an excellent diagnostician, excellent surgeon , and I am grateful to him. He is extremely ethical, and trustworthy. He knows what he is doing. I have recommended him to many, many people.

I broke my back riding a horse. Dr. Hartjen, saved me from being paralyzed for life. He is awesome ,has a great family is a total professional his office staff is understanding.

I've been a patient of Dr. Hartjen for over 20 years. He is an excellent surgeon. However, be warned, he is very cold to deal with and appears to lack empathy. Dr. Hartjen was able to diagnose and correct a VERY complicated situation in my spine, but he did not express any concern for me as a human. He was very brisk, abrupt and focused solely on my spine, not at all on me. I've learned over the years not to take his attitude personally, but it does present a hindrance to complete care, When I ask questions, he either doesn't reply or answers me with the attitude that I am not intellectually capable of comprehending what he says. Over my years in his care, I have willingly made the trade off between skill and empathy because I wanted an expert spinal surgeon more than I want someone to be nice to me. As I grow older, I realize that I'm entitled to have a doctor who will treat me humanely and answer any questions I have because communication is necessary for complete and accurate healthcare. I will remain a patient of Dr. Hartjen's until I find a doctor as skilled as he is but who also has a compassionate demeanor.

I have seen Dr. Hartjen on three different occasions over the last 15 years. I have been pleased with my care on all three occasions. I had an anterior C4-5 cervical discectomy with an interbody placement several years ago and had good results. I regained function and numbness subsided after the surgery. I know a number of people that had similar procedures elsewhere that did not have the success that I did. Additionally I have always known him to be very ethical in his care and straightforward and honest with his communication. I would recommend him to anyone need of spinal surgery and have recommended him to friends who also experienced great success.

Dr. Hartjen was the surgeon who performed surgery on my back, related to a herniated disc. I would recommend him highly, not only because he is an excellent surgeon, but he is a surgeon with a heart and who cares about his patients. He takes his time during the consult, as well as during the post-operative follow up visit. He always has a smile on his face. I have never felt better and am very grateful to him for all he did for me.

I am sorry that I cannot say anything positive. I was not told upfront that I may not heal for a year after fusion because of a product he was trying, thus, I lost my job, I was expecting an 8 week recovery, not 12 months. Many hidden secrets.

Dr. Hartjen is an excellent practitioner. I am in the health care field and recommend him to anyone that has spinal issues.

My husband had lower spine surgery performed by another spine surgeon to relieve typical symptoms of tingling in the leg weakness when walking and severe back pain. In recuperation, he reported to the surgeon extreme pain around the waist and abdomen. The response from this physician was that his part of treatment was finished and successful. Must be muscle related---Take pain pills, give it time, see another doctor. There was no follow up to test the success!!!Dr. Hartjen saw my spouse for only ten minutes and predicted one of three possibilities. One of which was spinal infection---a home run!After six weeks of antibiotic infusion and teaming with an infectious disease specialist, there is finally relief. What a guy this is---The very best in the book!!!!!

Saved my ability to walk!

I like Dr. Hartjen and have been seeing him on and off for 10 years. I highly recommend him, for the X stop surgery since this is what I had. My only issue is that I was not fully warned about the after effects of recovery, I thought I would be up and out in a matter of weeks. I was so wrong, it took longer than I expected. A brochure on what to expect after recovery would have been very helpful. This is of course a very small issue but important if one lives alone.

I would highly recommend Dr. Hartjen to anyone who is dealing with neck or back pain. He is excellent.

After years of dealing with a rare spine disease, Dr. Hartjen performed surgery so I could get my life back. His staff was excellent and he was top notch, very rare to meet such a skilled surgeon in Maryland.

Dr. Hartjen performed an Anterior Cervical Discectomy with Fusion (ACDF) on vertebrae C6-C7 two weeks ago. Like everyone before surgery, I was apprehensive- but now I'm on the road to recovery and doing great. If your looking for the best in the industry, go no further!

Had Spinal surgery in '05 and am returning for new spinal surgery. Feel extremely comfortable with this surgeon and trust him to resolve problems without delay. Have no anxieties in trusting Dr. Hartjen doing further surgery on me.