Orthopaedics in South Korea
South Korea offers four orthopaedic procedures through Medbook, in Seoul, Busan and Incheon: shoulder arthroscopy and rotator cuff repair, bunion and toe surgery, hand, wrist and elbow surgery, and joint injections, including PRP.
Joint replacement is not among them: hip, knee and shoulder replacement are offered in Lithuania and Turkey. This page explains what you can have done in South Korea and how a trip for orthopaedic treatment there usually goes.
You see a price only when a clinic makes you an offer.
Procedures available in South Korea
- Shoulder arthroscopy & rotator cuff
- Bunion & toe surgery
- Hand, wrist & elbow surgery
- Joint injections & PRP
Cities
Seoul, Busan, Incheon
What is arranged for you
- Accommodation
- Online consultation before you travel
How a Medbook trip works
- Tell the assistant what you need treated, where you travel from and when.
- See the destinations that offer your treatment and choose where to ask.
- Receive offers with a price and dates.
- Confirm an offer and get a day-by-day travel roadmap.
What you can have done in South Korea
For the shoulder, South Korea offers shoulder arthroscopy and rotator cuff repair. For the foot there is bunion and toe surgery, and for the arm there is hand, wrist and elbow surgery. Joint injections, including PRP, complete the list. Medbook's guide to orthopaedics, under Treatments, explains what each procedure is.
Joint replacement, knee and hip arthroscopy, knee ligament reconstruction, foot and ankle surgery and osteotomy are not offered in South Korea through Medbook. If you know you need orthopaedic care but not which procedure, choose "Not sure yet" under orthopaedics when you describe your case. Your results then show every destination that offers a procedure in the area, and the clinic looks at the details of your case before it makes you an offer.
How the trip usually goes
Before you travel, gather recent X-rays, MRI or CT scans with their written reports, letters from your doctor or physiotherapist and notes from any earlier surgery on the same joint. In the online consultation, ask how long you should plan to stay, when you can fly home, and which follow-up checks are planned and whether any of them can happen once you are home.
Once you confirm an offer, your roadmap lets you book your flight yourself or ask Medbook to arrange it, and then do the same for the transfer from the airport. Accommodation is arranged for you for the length of your stay, and each offer shows where your treatment takes place. A stay for surgery typically leaves room for any appointments before the procedure, the procedure itself and recovery before the flight home, and your clinic confirms the dates in its offer. A personal coordinator and aftercare are not among the services in South Korea, so check each offer for whether follow-up is included.
Questions
Can I have a hip or knee replacement in South Korea?
Not through Medbook at the moment. Hip, knee and shoulder replacement are offered in Lithuania and Turkey. If you choose one of them when you describe your case, your results show the destinations that offer it.
Is physiotherapy arranged after surgery?
Physiotherapy and rehab programmes are not offered in South Korea through Medbook; Lithuania and Turkey offer them. In South Korea, the rehabilitation area covers chiropractic and manual therapy, as well as acupuncture and pain-relief therapy. Ask in the online consultation which exercises you can continue once you are home.
Is an interpreter arranged in South Korea?
No, an interpreter is not among the services in South Korea. The assistant asks which language you are most comfortable communicating in, and your answer is part of your request for offers.