Orthopedics in Iran

An orthopedic specialist, also known as an orthopedist, attempts to diagnose & treat problems with the body’s locomotor system through utilizing surgical & non-surgical medical approaches.

Such problems include:

• • Injuries & deformities in the bones
  • Ruptures of tendons and ligaments
  • Sports injuries
  • Damage to the joints of the body, such as osteoarthritis, and joint wear
  • Bone & soft tissue tumors
  • Congenital diseases of the organs
  • Bone infections

• Arthroscopy: In this method, the inside of the joint can be observed & examined using a special camera & device.

• Fusion: In this method, the bones are welded together using rods & internal devices.

• Internal Fixture: This method can be used to put broken bones together using plates, bolts, and nuts.

• Joint Replacement: The damaged joint is removed, and replaced with an artificial joint. This can be applied partially or in whole.

• Osteotomy: In this medical procedure, the bone is cut & replaced. This is used to correct anomalies.

• Soft tissue repair: In this approach, the injured tendons & ligaments are repaired.

In Iran, doctors who already have a doctorate in medicine (taking seven years to complete) can obtain a specialized orthopedic degree in a four-year specialized course in medical schools.

The four-year orthopedic specialty course is called the Residency Course, and the physician who is taking the course is called a Resident.

When this four-year course has been completed, the Resident has to take an exam called the Orthopedic Board, and those who pass the exam are called board owners.

In some of these sub-branches of orthopedic specialty, and in some countries, including Iran, there are specialized 1 to 2-year courses called a Fellowship.

By taking these courses at medical schools, orthopedic specialists attempt to enhance their practical skills regarding the treatment of diseases of a specific specialized subgroup.

For instance, a specialist in pelvic & hip surgery may focus solely on hip replacement or hip arthroscopy.

Until about twenty years ago, a graduate of orthopedics could treat problems related to any limb, but that changed rapidly.

Due to the explosive development of science in all disciplines, including orthopedics in Iran, the orthopedic specialty is now divided into a number of sub-disciplines.

Thus, orthopedic practitioners attempt to focus as much as possible on a specific field in order to gain more knowledge & experience regarding that particular field.

These fields include:

• Hand surgery specialty
• Shoulder & elbow surgery specialty
• Spine surgery specialty
• Pelvic & hip surgery specialty
• Knee surgery specialty
• Foot surgery specialty
• Pediatric orthopedic surgery specialty
• Tumors of the locomotor system surgery specialty
• Trauma surgery & skeletal injuries specialty
• Sports injury surgery specialty

Significant development in technology, just like in other branches of medicine, have led to a notable increase in the development of orthopedic technologies in Iran during recent years.

• Arthroscopy (the use of tools in order to assist in the diagnosis & surgical treatment of ligament & joint conditions) has opened new therapeutic horizons in orthopedics in iran.
• Exciting stem cell research in Iran, which may enable orthopedic surgeons to stimulate ligament & bone growth in patients in the future.
• Extensive developments have been made in the surgical management of progressive joint disease. For instance, orthopedic surgeons can replace a patient’s joint with a prosthesis (complete joint replacement using a prosthesis)
• Research into “growing” articular cartilage in joints is developing, which may reduce the necessity for some patients to have joint replacements one day.
• Correction of lower limb abnormalities utilizing computer & 3D modeling of orthopedic patients in Iran, and for the very first time in the Middle East

Just like any other kind of surgery, orthopedics in Iran has its own risks.

However, according to studies conducted by Iranian researchers among patients, the risk of orthopedic surgery in Iran is reported to be very low.

The possible risks of having orthopedics in Iran include :

• limited range of motion in the joints,
• bleeding,
• blood clots in the arteries,
• damage to the nerves adjacent to the surgical site,
• scarring,
• body allergies,
• infections caused by surgery during fusion & internal fixture and implants,
• an adverse reaction to anesthesia,
• a change in the size of the legs in knee replacement,
• an increase in arthrosis, etc.

Of course, the complexity & severity of the injury or condition, length of hospitalization, smoking, diabetes, having an immunosuppressive condition, and old age can increase the risk of undergoing orthopedics in Iran.

Every single year, a great number of health tourists from all around the globe, and especially from Middle Eastern countries such as Iraq, Oman, and Qatar, pick Iran out of the leading health tourism countries like Turkey, the UAE, and India in order to receive their orthopedics in Iran.

Continue reading and we will explain exactly why Iran is considered as the ideal destination for having an orthopedic surgery not only for health tourists from the Middle East, but for patients from all over the world.

Since approximately 40 years ago, that the first orthopedic hospital in Iran was founded, Iranian physicians who had returned to Iran after completing their specialized courses in some of the best European & American universities began treating patients, As well as training younger specialists in Iran.

During the 8-year war between Iran & Iraq, these physicians had to treat a large number of patients who had been wounded at war.

During the war, these Iranian orthopedic physicians were able to gain experiences that very few orthopedic doctors had in the world at that time.

According to Dr. Iraj Haririchi, spokesman for the Iranian Ministry of Health, there are currently around 2,000 active orthopedic surgeons in Iran.

According to a scientific paper published in 2017 by Erik Hohmann et al., Iran is ranked 15^th in the world in terms of the number of scientific papers published in 10 of the most prestigious & credible orthopedic journals in the world.

Furthermore, Iran is unrivaled in terms of the total number of orthopedic surgeries carried out in the Middle East.

According to the statistics announced by Mohammad Javad Mortazavi, Fellowship in Knee & Pelvic Surgery, and Secretary of the Iranian Orthopedic Association (IOA), approximately 50,000 knee & hip replacement surgeries are annually carried out in Iran, which accounts for around 62.4 per 100,000 people per capita, making Iran one of the top 30 countries in the world, unrivaled in the Middle East, and above countries such as China, India, and Turkey.

As the statistics above indicate, Iranian orthopedic specialists are among the most experienced orthopedic surgeons in the world, and quite unrivaled in the Middle East.

These physicians are also at the highest scientific level in the world in terms of their technical knowledge.

During recent years, the competition between hospitals & specialized orthopedic clinics in attracting international health tourists from Iran’s neighboring countries has led them to utilize the very best equipment & manpower in order to satisfy their patients.

All of these hospitals MUST have the factors & features set by the Ministry of Health in order to obtain an IPD license.

We carefully discussed the position of Iranian orthopedic physicians in the world in terms of their knowledge & experience, but it is interesting that the cost of having various orthopedic surgeries is sometimes one tenth of the cost of having the same surgery in European & American countries! So what is the reason behind this vast difference?

The main cost of an orthopedic surgery is borne by the surgeon & the specialist staff, including the anesthesiologist, and the nursing care team.

Costs such as the cost of the materials utilized during the surgery such as pins, orthopedic implants, drug costs, and other hospital costs are the expenses that must be paid for during the process of having an orthopedics in Iran.

The cost of Iranian labor is even lower than the cheapest labor costs in the world. The average salary of a non-medical professional in Iran is something between $200 to $500 per month!

This is approximately one tenth of the average wages that skilled workers in developed countries such as the United States, Britain, Germany, and Australia earn.

Similarly, the cost of medical professionals is much lower than in other countries.

Furthermore, the cost of raw materials such as orthopedic implants that produced in Iran is very low compared to other countries such as Germany, and the United States.

This significant difference has resulted in a large number of health tourists traveling to Iran annually with the purpose of undergoing orthopedics in iran.