Knee, hip and spine surgery in India for patients from the UK

What an orthopaedic surgeon can tell you from imaging you already have

Usually a great deal. Plain X-rays of the joint, an MRI where one has been done, the clinic letter naming the joint or the spinal level, and an honest account of what you can and cannot do day to day are enough for a specialist to give a considered view remotely: whether replacement or decompression is a reasonable next step for you, whether something less drastic is worth trying first, and what a second surgeon would want to look at again. In the UK you are entitled to copies of your own records, so ask the radiology or medical records team for the images themselves on disc or as a download rather than the written report alone: a report summarises, the images inform. Answering all of that is what the $50 video review buys, with the $150 version putting the same assessment in writing. If the conclusion is that the plan you already have is sound and travelling adds nothing to it, that is what you will be told.

The implant, the second joint, and the lines where a quote moves

An orthopaedic quote is a small number of large line items, and the implant is the largest of them. Choosing it is your surgeon's clinical call, made with you. Its price is yours to see before you agree to anything, so every quote we obtain names the implant on its own priced line instead of folding it into a package total. The lines people forget to ask about are the ones that move: what the included ward stay covers and the price of going beyond it, whether inpatient physiotherapy sessions sit inside the package or are billed on their own, what a revision or a second joint adds, and what happens to the figure if the surgeon finds more damage than the scan suggested. Ask for the exclusions in writing; that list tells you more than the total does. The hospital bills you and you settle with the hospital, on figures fixed in writing before anyone flies, and our fee never travels inside that bill.

Rehabilitation happens in the UK, so arrange the handover first

The surgical part of this is the short part; rehabilitation runs far longer, and nearly all of it happens at home. We will not put a number of weeks on either here. The operating team sets the length of stay and the recovery plan for your case, and no website can do that honestly. Before committing to anything, ask your GP practice what physiotherapy you would be able to access on your return and whether they will follow up an operation performed abroad. Practice varies between areas and answers differ, and that conversation is far better had before you book than after you land back at Heathrow. The handover is built into the journey: you fly home holding the operation note, the implant details, the imaging and a rehabilitation plan addressed to whoever picks up your physiotherapy in the UK, together with the discharge bill checked line by line against the figures locked before you travelled. Teleconsult follow-ups with the operating team stay open once you are home, which matters most in the early weeks, when a question about a wound or a swollen leg deserves a quick answer rather than a wait.

Is the longer flight worth it for a single joint?

Sometimes it is not, and saying so is part of the job. Nearer destinations exist, and for one straightforward replacement a shorter journey may suit you better once the flying, the recovery and the cost of getting everyone home again are all counted. Set the options beside each other rather than assuming distance settles it. Where India tends to earn a long-haul leg is the case that is not routine: a revision, both joints in one admission, a complex spine problem, or other conditions running alongside the orthopaedic one. It earns it too for the patient with family in India who would be recovering among them anyway. On paperwork, British citizens apply for the e-Medical visa entirely online, with linked attendant visas for up to two companions, and OCI cardholders need no medical visa at all. Visa terms change, so check the official portal's own current conditions at the time you apply; the decision belongs to the Indian authorities, and we would never pretend to influence it.

What to prepare

• Your X-rays and any MRI as image files on disc or a download link rather than only the written report, requested early
• The clinic letter naming the joint or spinal level and the operation that has been advised, with the date it was written
• A list of current medicines, including anything for blood pressure, diabetes or blood thinning, and any reaction you have had to anaesthesia
• A plain note of what you can still do (stairs, distance walked, sleep disturbed), since function, not only the scan, shapes the advice
• An answer from your GP practice on the physiotherapy you can access at home afterwards, and on following up surgery done abroad
• Your passport expiry date, and your OCI card if you hold one, since the e-Medical visa is applied for online ahead of travel