Guide

Orthopaedic treatment in Türkiye

Orthopaedic travel works best when the rehabilitation is planned before the surgery is booked, because for a knee, hip or shoulder the result is decided over the following twelve weeks of physiotherapy rather than in the operating theatre.

Planning orthopaedic treatment between 50 and 75

Joint replacement and arthroscopic surgery are among the procedures where medical travel makes the most sense and where it goes wrong most quietly. The surgery itself is well standardised; the rehabilitation is not, and it is the part that cannot be packed in hand luggage. Before booking, establish who delivers physiotherapy in the weeks after you return, and whether they will accept a patient operated on abroad.

Mobility shapes the whole trip. Stairs, transfer distances, bathroom layout and the walk from the aircraft door all matter more than the hotel's rating, and a ground-floor room fifteen minutes from the hospital is worth more than a better view an hour away. Thrombosis risk means fitness to fly is a clinical decision, not a scheduling one — expect to be told when you may fly rather than to tell them.

Bring your imaging. Existing X-rays, MRI scans and any previous operation notes let a surgeon assess you properly in advance, and a plan made without them will change on arrival. If you take anticoagulants or manage diabetes, that belongs in the pre-operative conversation with your own consultant as much as with the operating team.

What to establish before you decide

The rehabilitation plan, before the surgical one

Ask for the twelve-week protocol in writing, who delivers each stage, and which parts happen in Türkiye. Then check that someone at home will take it on.

Implant make and model, recorded

Prosthesis manufacturer, model and size should be documented and given to you. Revision surgery a decade later depends on that record existing.

Imaging reviewed in advance

A surgeon should assess your existing imaging before you travel, and say plainly whether the procedure discussed is the one indicated.

Thromboprophylaxis and fitness to fly

Ask what anticoagulation is prescribed, for how long, and on what basis the team clears a patient to fly. This should be a clinical decision with stated criteria.

Accessible recovery accommodation

Ask specifically about stairs, lifts, bathroom access and distance to the hospital. These decide the first fortnight far more than star ratings do.

Questions to ask the clinic

01Will the operating surgeon review my existing imaging before I travel, and give a written opinion?
02Which prosthesis will be used — manufacturer and model — and will that be recorded in my discharge notes?
03What is the week-by-week rehabilitation protocol, and which parts happen in Türkiye?
04How long must I stay, and on what criteria will I be cleared to fly?
05What thromboprophylaxis is prescribed, and for how long after I return?
06What critical care is available on site if there is a complication?
07What discharge documentation will my own physiotherapist and GP receive?
08Who do I contact if the joint is not progressing as expected at week six?

Editorial status

Our selection process for orthopaedic treatment in Türkiye is still running. We do not recommend a provider we have not verified, so this page carries no list.

Named providers appear here once they have been through the published process — not before, and never in exchange for payment.

Talk to us about your plan How we select providers

Sources

T.C. Sağlık Bakanlığı — Ministry of Health of Türkiye
Licenses every clinic and hospital operating in Türkiye, and issues the separate health tourism authorisation a facility needs before it may treat international patients.
USHAŞ — International Health Services
The Ministry of Health's own body for international patients. Publishes which facilities hold health tourism authorisation, and takes complaints from patients treated in Türkiye.
Joint Commission International — accredited organisations register
The public register of JCI-accredited hospitals. A hospital's accreditation is either in this register or it is not, which makes it checkable in a way that a badge on the hospital's own website is not.
Türk Tabipleri Birliği — Turkish Medical Association
The professional body Turkish physicians register with. A surgeon's specialty registration can be checked here, independently of how a clinic describes them.
NHS — going abroad for treatment
The UK health service's guidance on treatment abroad, including what the NHS will and will not do if something goes wrong after a patient returns home.

This page is editorial guidance, not medical advice. It does not replace a consultation with a clinician who knows your history.