Arterial Switch Operation Cost in Chennai, India

The cost of the arterial switch operation in Chennai typically ranges from $510 to $4,900 USD (about ₹48,400 to ₹4.65 lakh), depending on the hospital, room category and type of procedure.

A typical estimate for the arterial switch operation in Chennai is around $1,650 (about ₹1.57 lakh). What you pay depends mainly on your own case. If the repair is planned and your child needs only a short stay in intensive care, your bill is likely to be closer to $510 (about ₹48,400). It is likely to be nearer $4,900 (about ₹4.65 lakh) if the repair is more complex or done in stages, or your child needs a longer stay in intensive care.

When comparing Chennai packages for the arterial switch operation, check whether each quote includes:

• Surgeon and anaesthetist fees
• Operating theatre or procedure room
• Paediatric intensive care days
• Pre-operative scans and catheter studies
• Hospital stay and room category
• Medicines and consumables
• Follow-up visits before you fly home

The arterial switch operation corrects transposition of the great arteries, in which the two main arteries leaving the heart are swapped, by moving them back to their normal positions in the first weeks of life.

Queensland Children's Health makes clear that in transposition the aorta and pulmonary artery are reversed, so oxygen-poor blood is pumped back to the body, and babies survive at first only because natural openings let blood mix.

A medicine called prostaglandin might keep the ductus open, and a balloon atrial septostomy might enlarge a hole between the upper chambers prior to surgery.

The arteries are switched to their correct positions and the coronary arteries moved to the new aorta, generally in the first few weeks of life.

Babies are cared for in intensive care later on, and lifelong follow-up checks the coronary arteries, valves and joins, as some children need further procedures.

Fitness to fly: the UK Civil Aviation Authority's medical guidance suggests 10 to 14 days after heart or chest surgery before flying, so a stay of around three weeks in Chennai is realistic.

In Chennai, the price of the arterial switch operation is generally built from these parts:

• Pre-surgery assessment: echo, CT or cardiac MRI, and any catheter test.
• Theatre and perfusion: for operations that can last many hours.
• Paediatric cardiac ICU: normally the main source of variation.
• Baby: age and condition.
• Treatment prior to surgery: prostaglandin or septostomy.
• Intensive care: after surgery.
• Follow-up: lifelong coronary and valve checks.

Children's heart surgery costs depend on the child's age and condition, the intensive care stay and any further operations, so complex cases in Chennai can cost more than the range above.

Children's heart surgery depends on a paediatric cardiac surgeon, a perfusion team and a paediatric cardiac intensive care unit working together, so check for all three in Chennai.

Hospitals in Chennai can hold NABH accreditation, India's national quality standard set by a board of the Quality Council of India and itself accredited by ISQua, and the NABH website shows whether an accreditation is still valid.

Joint Commission International (JCI) accredits a number of Indian hospitals, and its public directory lets you check whether a Chennai hospital on your shortlist is currently included.

Foreign patients can apply online for an Indian e-Medical visa, and family members who travel with them for an e-Medical Attendant visa; the official visa website lists the current conditions.