Orthopaedics and spine at Lecheng
Joint replacement, revision surgery, and implants designed around anatomy that off-the-shelf components cannot fit.
Orthopaedics is the most predictable part of medical travel: the procedure is planned in advance, the length of stay is known, and the outcome is largely a function of surgical technique and implant selection. That predictability is why it works well across borders.
The zone’s advantage here is less about novel medicine and more about throughput and hardware — robotic platforms, navigation, and patient-specific 3D-printed components for cases that have already failed once elsewhere.
| Typical stay | 14–24 days including rehabilitation before the return flight |
| Hospitals | 2 |
| Listed therapies | 0 |
| Routing time | 3–7 working days |
This is probably for you if
- Advanced osteoarthritis or a failed previous replacement, with recent imaging
- A waiting list at home measured in months, and pain that is limiting your life now
- You can commit to 4–7 days in hospital plus 2–3 weeks nearby before a long flight
- You have a named surgeon or team you want to be seen by
This is probably not for you if
- Acute infection, or a wound that has not healed — this must be treated before any elective surgery
- You are unable to complete post-operative physiotherapy
- You expect to fly long-haul within two weeks of surgery
The honest comparison
| At home | Regional hub | Here | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Access to newer therapies | Not registered, or not reimbursed | Registered, often self-pay | Reachable before national registration |
| Time to a specialist opinion | Weeks to months | Days to weeks | Typically 3–7 working days |
| Language on site | Your own language | English widely available | English at the desk, interpreter on the ward |
| Cost for the same procedure | Baseline | Mid to high | Materially lower for self-pay patients |
Comparative rows describe typical patterns, not a quote. Prices and waiting times vary by procedure, insurer and season.
A typical sequence
| Day 1 | Arrival, registration, baseline bloodwork |
| Day 2–3 | Imaging and specialist consultation; additional tests if the picture is unclear |
| Day 4 | Written plan and quotation from the hospital |
| Day 5 onward | Treatment, or a decision not to proceed |
| Final day | Discharge summary, imaging, medication, records in English |
Stays of 7–21 days are normal in this pathway. If your assessment is inconclusive, the sequence stops at day 4 — that is a real possibility and you should budget for it.
Five questions
- Which implant will be used, and is it one that my surgeon at home can revise later?
- What is the plan for anticoagulation during the flight home?
- How many physiotherapy sessions are included, and where do they happen?
- If a complication occurs after I return, who is my point of contact?
- Is the quoted price inclusive of the implant, or billed separately?
Ask these of the hospital, not only of us. A hospital that cannot answer the first one clearly is a hospital to walk away from.
Hospitals delivering this pathway
Boao Super Hospital
The zone's shared platform. Most international patients start here because the special-access catalogue and the multidisciplinary teams are concentrated in one building.
West China Lecheng Hospital
Carries a large share of the zone's approved biomedical new-technology projects across oncology, rare disease, autoimmune conditions, ophthalmology and joints.
If your case fits, the first step takes ten minutes.
Send a short summary. We will come back with a routing answer, not a brochure.