Dr. Michael Charles Distefano, MD

Dr. Distefano is what we are all looking for in a doctor - complete knowledge, confidence in his ability, and decisive. I have gone to him numerous times to fix things that were already "fixed" by other Orthos Be sure, I will never go to another doctor before Dr. Distefano again. He is truly passionate about what he does, and has decades of experience under his belt. If you want a doctor to talk about golf and fishing with - go to someone else. If you want a doctor who will come in, give you the correct diagnosis, and help you work towards a resolution in the least invasive way possible - then Mike is your man. Five Stars.

Dr. Distefano and his team are mediocre. Don waste your time and money.

This doctor does not treat his patients with respect. His attitude is awful and he is ice cold and just plain nasty. His examination takes about 2 mins. and he really is not interested in hearing what your ailments are or in what you have to say period. This is not a humane doctor.

Dr. Michael Distefano performed a sutalar joint fusion on my left foot five days ago. Even though my foot is in a cast, it feels better than it has in years! I honestly had only 20 minutes of discomfort when the nerve block wore off. Since then, no pain medication other than Tylenol has been necessary. I am using a knee scooter, and easily managing my household routines. I am 70 years old, and grateful!

I was under the impression that this was a painful procedure. When Dr Distefano aspirated my knee they said it would hurt. It was in 2005. I felt the need to check my records due to the long lasting memory of the incident. Yesterday I had the same procedure performed by an excellent Dr. who assured me it wouldn't be bad. This Dr numbed the site with a spray and then injected lidocaine. After waiting a while, possibly 15 minutes the aspiration was performed painlessly. Why the difference? Im not sure. Maybe he was in a hurry. Your call. Good luck

He did a full knee replacement for me and now I am having a full hip replacement by him. He doesn’t have a great personality but is a great surgeon with many, many years of experience. The experience is more important!

When all else fails Mike will take it on...... I was 26 years old in 1992 mike was brand new to Valley Hospital only there 2 days when the entire Orthopedic for. had a meeting to discuss my case among others, they all came to a conclusion they were to amputate my left leg. Michael spoke up the "new guy" I can save the leg, he explained a new procedure that he had performed in NYC and saved someone else's lreg. At that point head of Otto jumped on board to learn this new procedure and get name recognition and mike wanted 1 other Dr to assist due to the amount of work involved. All went great 10 1/2hrs surgery. He replaced my tibia and framer bones and many other repairs with cadaver bones....i am so greatfull to the outcome I was told I would need a knee replacement in 10 years, here it is 35 years later and still the same cadaver parts and no knee replacement needed to date. I still follow up to date with check ups.

Used physician assistant seems very competent

Took a fall after a sports related injury to my shoulder, and tore virtually every muscle connected to the rotator cuff. Dr. D was supportive and knowledgable throughout the diagnostic and scheduling phase, and did a great job surgically to put my shoulder back together. Through post-op and recovery he answered all of my questions (and I asked a lot!) and helped me progress carefully to recovery. I've seen people on this website complain about "bedside manner." If you care about chit-chat, maybe look elsewhere. If you want an experienced, capable, and very competent surgeon helping to fix your problem, I unreservedly recommend Dr. D.

Excellent talented doctor's doctor

Hospital for Special Surgery had to clean up mess created by Dr. D.

Could figure out I had bursitis in my hip and needed a cortisone shot.STAY AWAY

I was in the hospital being treated for a wrist fracture. I overheard that Dr. Distefano was a very good orthopedic. I went to his office and found it to be quite busy with a pretty long wait. The doctor has several assistants because he is busy. He is not very personable and seems to spend little time with his patients. However, he is very professional and documents his work in a personal recorder. Overall, I would recommend him.

I did not feel that this doctor had patience (no pun intended) for my intolerance of the pain I was in. I had broken my wrist and in resetting it, I felt, he was annoyed that I cried. (I was not howling, honest.) I guess he sees much worse situations but it really did hurt and I did sob. I'd go elsewhere for help and a little compassion.

I went into the office for a problem with my wrist. Within 5 minutes of the visit he diagnosed me with tendinitis. He tried to avoid surgery but in the end it needed to be done. My wrist is better and he was great. I would recommend him to anyone.

Great experience. Went in for recurring shoulder pain expecting to need surgery, was relieved to learn problem could be helped with non-surgical methods. Had my x-ray results explained to me in full detail and he recommended prevention methods that have worked. Needed a corticosteroid shot after an injury, but aside from that I have been incident-free for 2+ years.

This quack has crippled me after a routine bunionectomy. He tried to fuse my foot, failed, put 3 huge screws in that were supposed to there forever and each one moved. One almost came through the top of my foot. I asked him when I would walk normaly and he said eventually everything would go back to normal. It's been 5 years and I'm still in pain and my foot looks and feel worse than when I had the bunion. He botched my friend's mother's knee replacement, screwed up a shoulder operation. My advice is to stay away from him.