Orthopaedics and joint replacement abroad
Orthopaedics on Medbook covers surgery and other treatment of the bones, joints, ligaments and tendons. It includes hip, knee and shoulder replacement, as well as arthroscopy, knee ligament reconstruction, surgery on the foot, ankle, hand, wrist and elbow, and joint injections.
Three countries offer orthopaedics through Medbook. Lithuania offers every procedure in the area, with treatment in Kaunas. Turkey offers all but one of them in eight cities, and South Korea offers a smaller choice in Seoul, Busan and Incheon. This page explains what can be arranged, how the destinations differ and what to gather before you travel.
You see a price only when a clinic makes you an offer.
Procedures
- Hip replacement
- Knee replacement
- Shoulder replacement
- Knee arthroscopy & meniscus repair
- ACL & knee ligament reconstruction
- Hip arthroscopy
- Shoulder arthroscopy & rotator cuff
- Foot & ankle surgery
- Bunion & toe surgery
- Hand, wrist & elbow surgery
- Osteotomy & limb alignment
- Joint injections & PRP
Where you can have it
-
Lithuania
- Airport and clinic transfers
- Accommodation
- Personal coordinator
- Online consultation before you travel
- Aftercare
-
Turkey
- Airport and clinic transfers
- Accommodation
- Interpreter
- Personal coordinator
- Visa support
- Online consultation before you travel
- Aftercare
-
South Korea
- 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 Medbook can arrange
Joint replacement is offered for the hip, the knee and the shoulder. In a hip or knee replacement, the damaged parts of the joint are replaced with artificial parts. Arthroscopy is keyhole surgery: the surgeon makes small cuts near the joint and uses a tiny camera to see inside it. It is offered for the knee, together with meniscus repair, for the hip, and for the shoulder, together with rotator cuff repair. Reconstruction of the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) and other knee ligaments is listed as a separate procedure.
Beyond the large joints, the area covers foot and ankle surgery, bunion and toe surgery, surgery on the hand, wrist and elbow, and osteotomy and limb alignment. Joint injections, including PRP, complete the list. 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 this area, and the clinic looks at the details of your case before it makes you an offer.
Choosing a destination
Lithuania offers every orthopaedic procedure on Medbook's list, and all treatment there takes place in Kaunas. Transfers, accommodation, a personal coordinator, an online consultation before you travel and aftercare are arranged for you. Before you travel, you can also send your X-rays or MRI to a surgeon for review.
Turkey offers every procedure in the area except hip arthroscopy, in Istanbul, Ankara, İzmir, Adana, Bodrum, Bursa, Eskişehir and Kayseri. Every service on Medbook's list is arranged there, including an interpreter and visa support.
South Korea offers shoulder arthroscopy and rotator cuff repair, bunion and toe surgery, hand, wrist and elbow surgery, and joint injections, in Seoul, Busan and Incheon. Accommodation and an online consultation before you travel are arranged there. Wherever you go, once you confirm an offer, your roadmap lets you book flights and transfers yourself or ask Medbook to arrange them.
You do not have to choose a city first. Each offer shows where your treatment takes place, so you can compare places as well as dates.
Before you travel
Gather the records that show your joint or bone problem as it is today: 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. Write down the medications you take and any allergies. The assistant asks about chronic conditions, allergies and medications when you describe your case, so it helps to have this at hand.
An online consultation before you travel is arranged in all three countries, and it is a good moment for practical questions:
- How long should I plan to stay, and when can I fly home?
- Is physiotherapy part of the plan, and where does it take place?
- Which follow-up checks are planned, and can any of them happen once I am home?
- Is there anything I should bring for the journey home?
When you compare offers, look at the dates and at whether follow-up is included.
Questions
Can I ask for more than one orthopaedic procedure?
Yes. You can choose several treatments when you describe your case, and each destination in your results shows which of them it offers. The clinic confirms in its offer what it can do and when.
Where can I have hip arthroscopy?
In Lithuania, where it is offered in Kaunas. Turkey and South Korea do not offer it through Medbook at the moment. If you choose it when you describe your case, your results show the destinations that offer it.
Can physiotherapy be arranged as well?
Physiotherapy and rehab programmes belong to the rehabilitation and physiotherapy area on Medbook and are offered in Lithuania and Turkey. You can choose them alongside your orthopaedic procedure when you describe your case. The clinic confirms in its offer what it can do and when.
Is an interpreter arranged?
In Turkey, yes. An interpreter is among the services arranged there, but not in Lithuania or South Korea. The assistant asks which language you are most comfortable communicating in, and your answer is part of your request for offers.