Market statistics estimate that worldwide the medical tourism market is growing at a rate of 15-25% year on year. The top ten medical tourism destinations are Japan, Korea, the US, Taiwan, Germany, Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden, Thailand, and India. According to the Medical Tourism Association (MTA), every year around 14 million people globally travel to other countries for medical care. Below are some of the top medical treatments for which patients travel out of their home country.
According to a report from Science Direct, It is estimated that over 1 million heart surgeries are performed worldwide. For cardiac surgeries, some of the top medical tourism destinations are India, Singapore, South Korea, Bulgaria, Panama Five most common heart surgeries performed are –
Coronary Angioplasty & stent placement- Angioplasty is a procedure that helps open the clogged arteries. It is an ideal treatment to relieve a patient from chest pain and breathing difficulties. To keep the artery open, the doctor places a small wire mesh tube or stent. A stent supports the artery wall and prevents the vessel from re-narrowing. Patient might need to stay in hospital for 2-3 days after the surgery. Recovering from cardiac bypass surgery generally takes most people anywhere from 6-8 weeks to 3 months
Heart Bypass Surgery- This is a cardiac surgery helps redirect blood around a blocked artery in the heart. The doctor takes segments of healthy blood vessels from a different part of the body and attaches them above and below the blocked artery. Blockages due to Coronary artery disease or atherosclerosis may require interventions other than coronary bypass surgery. Though, this treatment helps patients stay symptom-free for ten to fifteen years. Duration of this surgery is 3-6 hours and after surgery mostly patient needs to stay around a week in the hospital. Recovering from cardiac bypass surgery generally takes most people anywhere from 6-8 weeks to 3 months
Heart valve surgery- Valves are responsible for the proper flow of blood through the heart, into the body. When one of these valves stops functioning correctly, the doctor either repairs or replaces it. This cardiac surgery is known as heart valve surgery. Many surgical approaches can be used to repair or replace heart valves, including open-heart surgery or minimally invasive heart surgery. After surgery, mostly patient is kept under close observation in an intensive care unit (ICU) for several days. Recovering from valve surgery might take 6 to 8 weeks
Pediatric heart surgery- This surgery is performed to correct congenital heart defects or other heart diseases in children. Common by-birth diseases are septal defects, tetralogy of Fallot, TGA, and Hypoplastic left heart syndrome. Open-heart surgery uses a heart-lung machine that takes over the heart’s functioning during cardiac surgery. A doctor treats minor defects by closed-heart surgery and cardiac catheterization. Most children who have had open-heart surgery need to stay in the intensive care unit (ICU) for 2 to 4 days right after surgery. They stay in the hospital for 5 to 7 more days after they leave the ICU. The recovery process can take as long as six to eight weeks
Heart transplant surgery- It is performed in case of coronary artery disease, cardiomyopathy, congenital heart defects, heart valve disease, and previously failed heart transplant surgery. A heart transplant is an invasive cardiac surgery that requires proper follow-up care to be successful. Because of the complexity of the surgery, it may take 4-6 hours for a heart transplant. It may take longer if the patient has previous heart surgery or an underlying medical condition. The patient must stay at the hospital for 7-14 days after surgery and most patients recover fully within 6-months after the surgery
Orthopedic surgeries performed worldwide are forecasted to increase from 22.3 million to 28.3 million by 2022. Some of the most preferred destinations for orthopedic medical treatments around the world are Turkey, Thailand, India and Germany. Most common orthopedic surgeries performed are-
Knee Replacement Surgery-Most common reason for knee replacement surgery is to relieve severe pain caused by osteoarthritis. A patient may need either a partial or total knee replacement surgery, depending on the severity of injury. Both are due to cartilage damage to the knee joints, which makes movement restricted and painful. Surgery might require 1-5 days hospitalization and time required to perform the surgery is 60-90 minutes. Recovery time required generally is 8-12 weeks.
Hip Replacement Surgery-It is a procedure in which a doctor surgically removes a painful hip joint with arthritis and replaces it with an artificial joint. There are two different types of hip replacement surgery: Under the traditional approach, the entire ball and socket joint is replaced with either a metal or plastic prosthesis; while during the Birmingham Hip Resurfacing approach, only the damaged portions are replaced, making the surgery less invasive requiring less recovery time. Typically, after 6 to 12 weeks, you will completely recover from a hip replacement surgery. After hip replacement surgery, you probably will be hospitalized for 3 to 5 days
ACL Surgery-ACL stands for Anterior Cruciate Ligament, and it’s one of the major ligaments in your knee. Athletes who take an interest in intense interest sports like soccer, football, and basketball are bound to harm their anterior cruciate ligaments. During surgery, the surgeon will take a portion of a tendon from another part of your body and use it as a graft to replace the torn ACL. Patients can usually go home the same day of the surgery and follow the RICE home remedy method: Rest, Ice, Compression, and Elevation
Shoulder replacement Surgery-This surgery is a common orthopedic surgery that restores function to damaged joints or cartilage. The surgery involves removing the damaged part of the shoulder and replacing it with an artificial joint made of plastic or metal. Shoulder replacement procedure takes 60 to 90 minutes. It takes around three to six months for the shoulder to heal.
Joint Fusion-This surgery is common in arthritis patients. The procedure involves removing damaged bone and replacing it with artificial material. The artificial material may be metal, plastic, or ceramic. It can be done in your spine, fingers, ankles, and feet. A hospital stay of 2 to 4 days is required after spine fusion surgery in India. Usually, it takes 6 to 8 weeks to recover enough to carry out daily activities. The complete fusion of the bones may take 3 months or more if proper rest and healing takes place
According to the WHO, about 100,800 solid organ transplants are performed annually. About 30% of these transplant procedures are performed in the United States, making the country a major destination for helping people in need of organ donation. Additionally, India ranks third, globally in organ donation and transplantation. Even in countries with efficient organ donation systems, the available organs are either inadequate to meet the growing demands for it, so people from developed countries are travelling for organ transplant to countries like- China, India, Phillipines, Turkey due to faster surgery and affordable rates. Below are top most transplant surgeries:-
Liver Transplant- The liver is the body's largest internal organ, located below the diaphragm on the right side of the abdomen. Liver has a unique ability to regenerate. In fact, up to 70 percent of the liver can be safely removed without causing any inconvenience for a healthy individual. Liver transplantation surgically replaces a failing or diseased liver with one that is in good physical shape. The transplant involves a major operation to remove the diseased liver and replace it with a normal donor liver. This may sound relatively easy, but the surgery is very demanding and can take between 6-18 hours to complete. Expect six months or more recovery time before you'll feel fully healed after your liver transplant surgery.
Kidney Transplant- The kidneys are bean-shaped organs in the human body, each approximately the size of a fist. They are located just below the rib cage, one located on each side of the spine. Maximum kidney or renal ailments attack the Nephrons, which cause these to lose their filtering capacity. Common causes for end stage renal diseases are- Diabetes Mellitus, High blood pressure, Glomerulonephritis, Polycystic Kidney Disease, Severe anatomical problems of the urinary tract. Kidney Transplant operation is referred to as a Heterotopic Transplant, which means that the kidney is placed in a different location than the existing kidneys. The procedure generally takes 2-4 hours and is done under general anaesthesia. The span of hospital stay is usually 3-7 days.
Heart Transplant- Heart Transplant in India, also known as a Cardiac transplant, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients, who have end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. This procedure is the last resort for patients with heart failure and is recommended when other medical or surgical treatments have not yielded positive outcomes. In the procedure, Initially, the patient is connected to a heart-lung bypass machine in order to maintain the steady flow of oxygen-rich blood throughout your body. In this procedure, the surgeon makes an incision in the chest, then separates the chest bone and opens the rib cage to operate without any hassles. After this, the diseased heart is removed and the new (donor’s) heart is sewn into place. Then the new heart is connected to the aorta, which is the main artery from the heart, the pulmonary artery, and the remaining part of the atria. Patients can sufficiently recover after the heart transplant and can be discharged within 10 days. However, they need to be hospitalized for two weeks or more
Lung Transplant- Mostly, people with severe, end-stage lung disease can be considered for or recommended a lung transplant. The procedure should be considered when survival for someone a patient seems impossible without the surgery and no other treatment options are available. Most common lung diseases are- Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema and chronic bronchitis), Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, Cystic fibrosis, Idiopathic pulmonary arterial hypertension. Surgeons may perform either a single lung transplant or a double lung transplant. There are advantages and disadvantages of both these options, and the choice varies with the recipient’s lung disease and other factors. Patients may be able to recover sufficiently after the lung transplant and be discharged within 10 days. However, it is more typical for the patients to be hospitalized for two weeks or more. Usually it will take nearly three to six months for complete recovery from the lung transplant surgery
Bone Marrow Transplant- A Bone Marrow Transplant in India is a highly specialized medical procedure performed to replace the bone marrow that has been damaged or destroyed by a disease, an infection, or chemotherapy. The BMT procedure is about transplanting the blood stem cells, which travel to the bone marrow, where they produce new blood cells and boost the growth of new marrow
Types of Bone Marrow Transplant:
Autologous Transplant- In this, stem cells are taken from the patient either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis (peripheral blood stem cells) and then given back to the patient after the treatment
Allogeneic Transplant- In this, the donor has the same HLA type as the patient. Stem cells are taken either by bone marrow harvest or apheresis (peripheral blood stem cells) from a HLA matched donor, mostly a brother or a sister
The Procedure- Treatment with high doses of Chemotherapy and sometimes Radiotherapy will be needed before the stem cells can be transplanted. This is called the Conditioning treatment. This is done in order to:
The actually transplant procedure is done a day or two days after the conditioning is done. The patient has to stay in the hospital for a few weeks. The recovery period depends on each patient. On an average, the inpatient stay is between 21 and 35 days. Then the patients are discharged to the outpatient status. Post-transplantation patients are monitored closely in the physician's clinic.
Most popular destinations for ophthalmology worldwide are Turkey, India, Singapore. India is home to a third of the world’s blind population. Most common eye surgeries performed are-
Refractive Surgery (this includes LASIK)- Perhaps the most well-known of eye surgeries, LASIK (short for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis) uses a laser to reshape the cornea to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. By correcting imperfections of the cornea with LASIK, light can be properly focused to accurately produce an image on the retina, giving you the freedom of sharper vision. LASIK eye surgery normally takes 30 minutes to perform for both the eyes. It may take around 3 to 6 months for full recovery after this surgery.
Cataract Surgery- This procedure is virtually identical to a refractive lens exchange, but in this instance the catalyst to undergoing surgery is the cloudy lens, known as a cataract. This procedure takes just 8-15 minutes to complete and the average patient achieves drastically better vision within the first 24 hours of the procedure. Although this surgery is life-changing for most, glasses will likely still be needed to help with reading and other close-up tasks.
Glaucoma Implant Surgery- This type of surgery is used to treat several types of glaucoma, including congenital glaucoma, neovascular glaucoma, and glaucoma caused by an injury. It’s done in a hospital and usually takes 1 to 2 hours. In this operation, the surgeon implants a tiny tube, or shunt, onto the white part of your eye. The tube helps extra fluid drain out of your eye, lowering your eye pressure. Usually, you’ll be awake during this surgery — but you’ll get numbing medicine and medicine to help you relax. You can usually go home the same day, but you’ll need someone to drive you home. While you recover, you may need to avoid some activities for 2 to 4 weeks, like lifting anything heavy. You’ll also need check-ups with your doctor to make sure your eye is healing well.
Corneal Transplant Surgery- The cornea is the clear layer on the front of your eye that helps focus light so you can see clearly. A cornea transplant, also called keratoplasty, can bring back vision, lessen pain, and possible improve the appearance of your cornea if it is white and scarred. Most people have to stay in hospital for a night after a full-thickness cornea transplant (penetrating keratoplasty). You may be able to go home the same day if you have a partial-thickness transplant. Once you return home after the procedure, you'll need to take good care of your eye. At first you'll need to attend regular follow-up appointments. These should gradually become less frequent over time. If stitches were used to hold the transplant in place, these are initially left in place to allow the cornea to heal. They're usually removed after about a year.
Vitreo-retinal eye surgery- Vitreoretinal eye surgery refers to a group of advanced, highly delicate procedures that are done deep inside the eye’s interior. Vitreoretinal surgery is performed in the part of your eye where the vitreous and retina are located. The vitreous is a jelly-like substance filling the cavity between the lens of your eye and your retina. The purpose of vitreoretinal surgery is to restore, preserve and improve vision for a wide range of conditions. Vitreoretinal surgeries have high success rates, and patients should experience improved vision in just a few weeks. For most people, sight is either improved or restored
Cancer is one of the leading causes of death worldwide. According to WHO, below are most common types of cancer prevalent now-a-days:-
Breast cancer- This type of cancer is most commonly found in women. The cancer cells start from the breasts and then spread to other body parts through the blood or lymph system. Some of the common symptoms of breast cancer include the following
Lung Cancer- Second most type of cancer is lung cancer according to healthline’s website. Lung cancer includes two main types: non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer. Smoking causes most lung cancers, but nonsmokers can also develop lung cancer. Some of the significant symptoms of this cancer are as follows:-
Colorectal Cancer- Colorectal cancer refers to cancers found in the colon or rectum. Together they make up the large intestine. Some of the significant symptoms of this cancer are as follows:-
Most common types of treatment for cancer according to Mayo clinic are as follows-
Surgery :- The goal of surgery is to remove the cancer or as much of the cancer as possible.
Chemotherapy :- Chemotherapy uses drugs to kill cancer cells.
Radiation therapy:- Radiation therapy uses high-powered energy beams, such as X-rays or protons, to kill cancer cells. Radiation treatment can come from a machine outside your body (external beam radiation), or it can be placed inside your body (brachytherapy).
Immunotherapy:- Immunotherapy, also known as biological therapy, uses your body's immune system to fight cancer. Cancer can survive unchecked in your body because your immune system doesn't recognize it as an intruder. Immunotherapy can help your immune system "see" the cancer and attack it.
Hormone therapy:- Some types of cancer are fueled by your body's hormones. Examples include breast cancer and prostate cancer. Removing those hormones from the body or blocking their effects may cause the cancer cells to stop growing.
For many patients who are experiencing excruciating pain due to a spinal or neuro condition, surgery might be a better option to relive the pain and get back to their normal day-to-day activities. Most common neuro and spine surgeries performed worldwide are listed as follows:-
Anterior Cervical Discectomy :- Anterior cervical discectomy is a common neurosurgery procedure that most notably treats herniated discs in the neck. The goal of the procedure is to remove the herniated disc to provide pain relief. This procedure is often recommended by neurosurgeons when pain cannot be managed through non-surgical treatments.
Craniotomy :- A lot of patients suffering a brain stroke or brain injury each year require this kind of surgery. A craniotomy is a common neurosurgery procedure that involves removing a part of the skull bone to allow for direct access to the brain. The removed portion of the skull is eventually replaced to minimize the visible long-term impact of the procedure.
Laminectomy :- An opening over the nerve or spinal cord is performed to relieve compression of those structures. The terms laminectomy and laminectomy correlate to the location of said opening in the posterior elements of the spine and their size. This is also a type of decompression
Spinal Fusion:- A spinal fusion permanently joins two or more bones in your spine. It may be performed when someone has severe compression of the nerves in the spine due to instability or if a spinal revision surgery is needed. If there is a spinal fracture, a fusion can help stabilize it. Among the other reasons for a spinal fusion are spine deformity, cancer of the spine, and occasionally for intractable pain. During a fusion, the spine is stabilized with screws and rods, and the disc causing the compression can be replaced with a fusion device and bone graft. This surgery is often performed along with a laminectomy
Disc Replacement:- A disc replacement can be done in the lumbar or the cervical spine. It is done to treat a pinched nerve or spinal cord compression in the cervical or lumbar spine. During this surgery, the disc is removed and an artificial disc is inserted into the disc space. The device allows motion, whereas the traditional fusion procedures fused the bone and prevented motion. A disc replacement can be a good alternative to a spinal fusion for younger patients who do not have significant arthritis because it is motion-sparing. This procedure has a recovery period of about six weeks.
