Cost of Hip Replacement Surgery in India Hip replacement surgery is a very common procedure in India that enjoys a very high success rate. The prime purpose of total hip replacement surgery or arthroplasty is to give patients suffering from arthritis or any other disabling orthopedic hip problem, relief from the discomfort and pain; enhance stability and improve the function. In this procedure, the damaged ball and socket joint in arthritic hip is replaced by a ceramic or metallic ball and plastic or ceramic socket. The ball has a metal stem as attachment to be fitted with the femur and the socket is implanted in the pelvis. The part of femur i.e. the thigh bone that includes the ball or head of the femur is extracted in total hip replacement surgery and is replaced by an artificial smaller ball which is fixed to the remaining femur. Further, an artificial socket is attached to the pelvis and roughened so that the new socket components can accept each other. The components are usually fixed using acrylic cement. Recovery after hip replacement surgery is fast and usually hassles free. If bone cement is applied (for the elderly patient) the recovery is even faster. The hospital stay should not be more than three to a maximum of five days. Cost of Hip Replacement Surgery in India The cost of hip replacement surgery in India is one of the major reasons why patients decide to travel thousands of miles to get treated. The country boasts its high quality of medical treatment that can be available at an extremely affordable cost. Hip replacement surgery cost relies on various factors. Some of the factors that dictate the cost of hip replacement surgery include the following: • • • • • • •
Type and quality of implant used The type of hospital room preferred Experience of the surgeon Cost of medicines and other consumables Management of post-surgery complications Total duration of hospital stay Rehabilitation and physical therapy costs
Apart from the above mentioned costs, a medical tourist also has to bear the boarding and lodging cost and the cost of food. But even when all these miscellaneous or hidden costs are