HIPEC Cost in Chennai, India

The cost of HIPEC 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 HIPEC in Chennai is around $1,650 (about ₹1.57 lakh). What you pay depends mainly on your own case. If a standard implant is used and you stay in a shared room, 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 a specialised implant is used, both sides are treated, it is a repeat operation or you choose a private room.

When comparing Chennai packages for HIPEC, check whether each quote includes:

• Surgeon and anaesthetist fees
• Operating theatre or procedure room
• Implants, plates or screws
• Physiotherapy
• Hospital stay and room category
• Medicines and consumables
• Follow-up visits before you fly home

HIPEC (hyperthermic intraperitoneal chemotherapy) bathes the inside of the abdomen in heated chemotherapy during surgery, after visible cancer on the abdominal lining has been removed (cytoreductive surgery).

Cancer Research UK outlines cytoreductive surgery with HIPEC as the main treatment for pseudomyxoma peritonei, and it is also used for some peritoneal mesothelioma and for selected bowel, appendix and ovarian cancers that have spread to the abdominal lining.

NICE recommends that it is carried out only in specialist centres.

Cancer Research UK observes that the operation can last approximately 10 hours, followed by 24 to 48 hours in intensive care and two to three weeks as an inpatient, and a return to full activity can take no less than six months.

It reports complications in approximately 30% of people and a stoma in approximately 20%, so it makes sense to ask how many HIPEC operations the hospital carries out each year.

Fitness to fly: the UK Civil Aviation Authority's medical guidance advises waiting 10 days after open surgery on the abdomen, so allow roughly two weeks in Chennai.

In Chennai, the price of HIPEC is generally built from these parts:

• Assessment before surgery: X-rays, scans and a fitness check.
• Theatre and anaesthetic: billed largely on operating time.
• Implant: the make and model of joint, plate or screws.
• Physiotherapy: while you are in hospital and after you leave.
• Extent of surgery: organs and lining removed.
• Operation length: frequently about ten hours.
• Intensive care: and a long stay.
• Centre experience: matters.

Cancer treatment costs vary with the stage, the extent of treatment and any further therapy, so complex cases in Chennai can cost more than the range above.

Orthopaedic departments in Chennai handle joint replacement, arthroscopy and trauma, generally with physiotherapists on site so that you start moving soon after surgery.

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.

Chennai International Airport, at Meenambakkam on the south-western side of the city, handles direct international flights, and most hospitals are a road journey away, so check the transfer time when you book.