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Cardiac surgery in India
The speciality most of our patients travel for, and the one where surgeon volume matters most. Everything below is what we would tell you on the phone.
The one number that matters
Why we ask about volume before anything else
In cardiac surgery, the relationship between how many operations a unit performs and how well its patients do is one of the most consistently reproduced findings in surgical literature. It holds at the level of the hospital, and it holds more strongly at the level of the individual surgeon.
India's advantage is not that its surgeons are cheaper. It is that a catchment of tens of millions of people, in a country with a very high burden of coronary disease, produces case volumes that a smaller health system simply cannot generate. A consultant here may perform in one year what a colleague elsewhere performs in four.
So the first question we put to any hospital about your case is not the price. It is: how many of this specific operation did the proposed surgeon do last year? If the answer is vague, we don't proceed.
What good looks like
- Unit performing 800+ adult cardiac procedures annually
- Named surgeon with 150+ cases of your specific procedure per year
- Dedicated cardiac ICU with 1:1 nursing for the first 24 hours
- On-site perfusion team and ECMO capability, not shared with a general theatre
- Published 30-day mortality and deep sternal wound infection rate
The trade-off nobody mentions
High volume means efficiency, and efficiency can feel brisk. Ward rounds are fast. Consultations are shorter than you may be used to. This is the honest downside, and it is exactly why your case manager and interpreter are on the ward with you — to slow the conversation down and make sure your questions get asked.
Fourteen days
A bypass trip, day by day
This is the standard uncomplicated path. Roughly one patient in nine needs longer, and your quote states the per-day cost of that in advance.
Arrival
Met at arrivals, SIM card, transfer to serviced accommodation. Nothing clinical. You sleep off the flight.
Workup and consultant meeting
Bloods, echo, chest imaging, carotid doppler, dental clearance, anaesthetic review — all in one block. Then the surgeon, with your interpreter present.
Decision and consent
Graft strategy confirmed, risks explained in your language, written consent taken. Final quote reconfirmed against the workup findings.
Surgery
Admission at 06:00. A message from theatre to your family when the operation finishes — typically 4–6 hours.
Intensive care
Usually two nights, 1:1 nursing. Extubation on day one where possible. Your case manager visits and reports to your family each evening.
Ward and mobilisation
Sitting out on day one on the ward, walking by day two, stairs before discharge. Physiotherapy twice daily, included.
Discharge
Itemised final bill reviewed with you line by line. Discharge summary and medication in English and your language.
Fitness-to-fly review
A final consultant check and, where needed, an airline medical clearance letter. Then home.
Straight answer
Who should not travel for cardiac surgery
Travelling is the right decision for most people who ask us. For some it is clearly wrong, and those cases are worth naming plainly.
Ask whether your case qualifies- Unstable angina or a recent infarct. If you are unstable, you need the hospital nearest you, not the best one. We will say so and help you find local care.
- Severe uncorrected heart failure. An eight-hour flight is itself a cardiac stress test. Some patients are not fit to take it.
- Nobody able to accompany you. For major cardiac surgery we consider a companion close to essential, and will tell you rather than quietly book it.
- No possibility of follow-up at home. Anticoagulation after valve replacement needs monitoring for life. If nobody at home can do it, a mechanical valve is the wrong choice — a conversation to have before you fly, not after.
- Thoracic recovery in peak smog season. Between November and January we will either move your dates or arrange filtered accommodation. We will raise it; you shouldn't have to.
Cardiac questions
What patients ask the surgeon
Both are offered, and the honest position is that for most patients the long-term difference is small. Off-pump avoids the heart-lung machine and may reduce stroke risk in patients with a heavily calcified aorta; on-pump gives a still, bloodless field and is technically more reliable for complete revascularisation. Your surgeon should recommend one and be able to say why in a sentence. If the answer is "whichever you prefer", ask again.
This is the single most consequential choice in valve surgery and it is genuinely yours to make. A mechanical valve lasts a lifetime but requires warfarin forever, with regular INR monitoring. A tissue valve needs no long-term anticoagulation but will likely need replacing in 10–20 years. For international patients the deciding factor is often practical: can you reliably get INR monitoring where you live? If not, that answer matters more than your age.
Ten to fourteen days after open cardiac surgery, subject to a fitness-to-fly assessment — chest drains removed, no pleural effusion, stable saturations, wound healing. Some airlines require a medical clearance form; we prepare it. Flying too early after cardiac surgery carries a real risk, and no reputable surgeon will sign you off to save you a few hotel nights.
Yes — the major device manufacturers are the same, and India additionally caps stent prices by law, which is why that particular line is so much cheaper here. Your quote names the manufacturer and model. If a quote you receive from anyone says only "imported stent", treat that as a red flag and ask for the specific product.
Your quote states what is covered and what is not — additional grafts, an intra-aortic balloon pump, extended ICU stay — each with a price attached. The surgeon makes clinical decisions in theatre without reference to cost; the billing is reconciled afterwards against those stated rates, with your case manager checking every line.
Send the angiogram. We'll do the rest.
Two cardiac consultants read your file and reply in writing, with an itemised quote. Usually within three working days, and at no cost.