Christopher J. DeFrancesco, MD

Christopher J. DeFrancesco, MD, is an attending orthopedic surgeon in Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia’s (CHOP) Orthopedic Center and Young Adult Hip Preservation Program. He has extensive training in both open surgery of the hip and minimally invasive surgery of the hip (arthroscopic surgery), as well as expertise in sports medicine, knee and shoulder surgery.  

Dr. DeFrancesco is especially passionate about caring for children, teens and young adults with hip disorders, sports injuries and complex joint conditions — helping them return to the activities and sports they love most. It’s important for these patients to be seen by pediatric orthopedic/sports medicine physicians who have expertise evaluating and treating individuals with bones that are still growing. Doctors with training like Dr. DeFrancesco's can offer young patients surgical and non-surgical options that are appropriate based on their level of physical development. At CHOP, our team, including Dr. DeFrancesco, has decades of experience treating these types of conditions/injuries in pediatric and young adult patients.

Building the future of hip care at CHOP

Dr. DeFrancesco is committed to expanding the scope of CHOP’s Young Adult Hip Preservation Program to ensure patients receive seamless care from infancy through adulthood. Working closely with Wudbhav N. Sankar, MD, and Kathleen J. Maguire, MD, he offers the full range of hip procedures and is helping introduce hip replacement (total hip arthroplasty) as an option for young patients who have exhausted other treatments.

This makes CHOP one of the only centers in the country offering such a comprehensive approach to pediatric and young adult hip care. “Our goal is for families to know that no matter how complex their child’s hip problem is, we have the expertise to help.” 

More from Dr. DeFrancesco: Total Hip Arthroplasty and Other Hip Surgery Options for Young Adults: A Q&A with Dr. Christopher J. DeFrancesco

Training and expertise

Dr. DeFrancesco earned his undergraduate degrees in mechanical and biomedical engineering at Carnegie Mellon University. After working as a mechanical engineer, he enrolled at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He completed a research fellowship in orthopedics as a Benjamin Fox Fellow at CHOP, then residency training at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

He returned to CHOP for fellowship training in pediatric orthopedics, where he learned advanced techniques in open hip surgery under Dr. Sankar’s mentorship. He then spent a year completing a fellowship in sports medicine at Boston Children's Hospital before returning to join the faculty at CHOP.

A passion for caring for young patients

Originally from Pennsylvania and the youngest of three children in a family of nurses, Dr. DeFrancesco’s interest in orthopedics grew out of a lifelong love of sports and a fascination with how the body moves. As a former Division III football player at Carnegie Mellon University, he knows firsthand the challenges of athletic injuries and the determination it takes to return to playing.  

“I’ve always been drawn to understanding how things work — and how to make them work better. Orthopedics, especially hip preservation and sports medicine, gives me the opportunity to combine that problem-solving mindset with helping young people heal.”

Philosophy of care

For Dr. DeFrancesco, the most rewarding part of his work is seeing a child or teen return to sports, dance or simply being active with friends and family. He believes every patient deserves a treatment plan that balances cutting-edge surgical options with thoughtful, individualized care.

“One thing I hope every family takes away from their time at CHOP is that we are here to listen, to guide and to support them every step of the way.”

Life beyond the hospital

Outside of work, Dr. DeFrancesco is a proud husband and father to a young son. He loves exercising, jogging local trails, cheering on the Pittsburgh Steelers and University of Pittsburgh sports teams, and sharing time outdoors and pizza nights with his family. 

In his own words: Read more about Dr. DeFrancesco's areas of interest and his approach to working with patients and families.