Fontan procedures Cost in Gurgaon, India

The cost of the Fontan procedure in Gurgaon typically ranges from $1,900 to $7,000 USD (about ₹1.80 lakh to ₹6.64 lakh), depending on the hospital, room category and type of procedure.

A typical estimate for the Fontan procedure in Gurgaon is around $3,500 (about ₹3.32 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 $1,900 (about ₹1.80 lakh). It is likely to be nearer $7,000 (about ₹6.64 lakh) if the repair is more complex or done in stages, or your child needs a longer stay in intensive care.

When comparing Gurgaon packages for the Fontan procedure, 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 Fontan procedure is normally the third planned operation for children born with only one working pumping chamber, sending blood from the lower body straight to the lungs without passing through the heart.

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne describes a staged plan for single ventricle conditions including hypoplastic left heart syndrome: a Norwood operation or a shunt in the first days or weeks of life, a Glenn operation at about three months and a Fontan at about four to five years.

A catheter test normally comes first, and during surgery the vein from the lower body is joined to the lung arteries, commonly with a tube, sometimes with a small hole made to ease pressure.

The Royal Children's Hospital Melbourne says that the Fontan circulation can affect other organs over time, including the gut (protein-losing enteropathy), liver, kidneys and lungs.

Exercise capacity is normally lower than in other children, and lifelong specialist follow-up is required.

Flying home: UK Civil Aviation Authority medical guidance puts the usual wait after heart or chest surgery at 10 to 14 days, so expect to spend around three weeks in Gurgaon in total.

A Gurgaon quote for the Fontan procedure is normally made up of these items:

• Tests before the operation: echocardiogram, CT or cardiac MRI and any catheter study.
• Theatre time and perfusion: children's heart operations can run for many hours.
• Paediatric cardiac intensive care: normally the largest variable.
• Child: normally aged four to five.
• Catheter test: ahead of surgery.
• Intensive care: after surgery.
• Follow-up: lifelong heart, liver and gut 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 Gurgaon can cost more than the range above.

Children's heart surgery needs a paediatric cardiac surgeon, a perfusion team and a paediatric cardiac intensive care unit together, so confirm all three when shortlisting hospitals in Gurgaon.

NABH, the hospital accreditation board of the Quality Council of India whose standards carry ISQua accreditation, sets the national benchmark for hospitals, and its online directory shows whether a Gurgaon hospital's accreditation is still current.

Gurgaon is part of Delhi NCR, where India's first hospital to gain Joint Commission International (JCI) accreditation did so in 2005, and JCI publishes a searchable list of the organisations it currently accredits.

Where a Gurgaon hospital has an international patient desk, ask whether it can issue the letter for your e-Medical visa and help with airport pickup, interpreters and a place to stay nearby.