Pollicization Surgery Cost in Chennai, India

The cost of pollicization surgery in Chennai typically ranges from $1,550 to $5,750 USD (about ₹1.47 lakh to ₹5.45 lakh), depending on the hospital, room category and type of procedure.

A typical estimate for pollicization surgery in Chennai is around $2,850 (about ₹2.70 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 $1,550 (about ₹1.47 lakh). It is likely to be nearer $5,750 (about ₹5.45 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 pollicization surgery, 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

Pollicization is an operation that turns a child's index finger into a working thumb, for children born without a functioning thumb.

The Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) makes clear that pollicization is used for children whose thumb did not develop fully (thumb hypoplasia) or is missing, and sometimes after injury.

HSS outlines a usual minimum age of approximately 18 months, ideally before preschool, with the index finger shortened, rotated into the thumb position and its muscles and tendons rearranged.

The operation takes under two hours and the hand stays in a cast for approximately four weeks, followed, as HSS outlines, by therapy twice a week for approximately two months and a night splint.

The new thumb grows with the hand, and risks include stiffness, length difficulties, scarring and infection, while loss of the thumb is rare.

Fitness to fly: aviation guidance has no single figure for bone and joint surgery, but leg operations make clots on long flights more likely, so ask about prevention; the UK Civil Aviation Authority's medical guidance suggests 24 to 48 hours after a plaster cast.

In Chennai, the price of pollicization surgery 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.
• Child: age and hand anatomy.
• Children's anaesthesia: and stay.
• Cast: for approximately four weeks.
• Hand therapy: for approximately two months.

Ask each Chennai hospital for an itemised costing showing any implant, surgeon, theatre, stay and hand therapy or physiotherapy, so offers can be compared fairly.

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 was called Madras until the Tamil Nadu government changed the name in 1996, so older documents and some hospital paperwork may still use the earlier name.