Knee Replacement Abroad: What UK Patients Need to Know (2026)

UK range: LaingBuisson self-pay data (May 2025). Poland: our partner hospital's price list (July 2026), €1 = £0.86. The knee package includes pre-operative diagnostics, anaesthesia, surgery and implant, three nights on the ward, up to seven outpatient physiotherapy sessions, a coordinator and a post-operative consultation. Flights, hotel and a private room are extra.

For a full breakdown, see private knee replacement cost in the UK.

For one country in detail — every price on the list, what the package covers and how the trip works — see knee replacement in Poland.

• A total knee replacement resurfaces the whole joint.
• A partial (unicompartmental) knee replacement replaces only the damaged part of the knee.

Whether a partial knee is suitable depends on the pattern of damage in your joint, your ligaments and your activity level — the surgeon decides after examining you and your scans. Don't choose on price: at our partner hospital the partial knee is about €1,050 cheaper than a cemented total knee, but it is only an option if your knee is suitable.

• Cemented implants are fixed to the bone with bone cement; cementless implants rely on bone growing onto a textured surface.
• Nickel-free ("anti-allergic") knees exist for people with a proven metal allergy. If you have reacted to jewellery or metal fastenings, tell the surgeon at the assessment.
• Knee systems at our partner hospital include Zimmer Biomet NexGen, DePuy Synthes Attune and Enovis LIMA.

Whatever you are offered, get the brand and model in writing.

Knee replacement recovery depends heavily on physiotherapy, and most of it happens after you get home. Plan it before you travel:

• Abroad: the package includes up to seven outpatient physiotherapy sessions after you leave the ward.
• At home: ask your GP, before you go, how to access local physiotherapy after surgery abroad. Waiting times vary, so some patients book private physiotherapy for the first weeks back home.
• Your plan: you leave with a written rehabilitation plan and your records in English, so a UK physiotherapist can pick up where the hospital left off.

1. Total or partial — and why for my knee?
2. Which implant (brand and model), cemented or cementless?
3. How many nights in hospital, and how many physiotherapy sessions afterwards?
4. What blood-clot prevention will I have, and for how long?
5. When will I be fit to fly home, and what if I need to stay longer?
6. Who do I contact if I have a problem after I'm home?
7. What is the refund policy if I have to cancel?

The main travel concern after knee surgery is blood clots. Clot prevention starts straight after the operation, and your surgeon decides when you are fit to fly. A short flight helps: London Luton to Wrocław is about two hours.

See flying after a hip or knee replacement and our surgery abroad safety checklist.