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Rehab & logistics
Recovery, Rehab & the Return Flight
The surgery is the short part. What determines whether medical travel works for you is the fourteen days after it — and whether you planned for them honestly.
The one rule. Do not book a fixed, non-refundable return flight. Every complication that turns a good orthopedic trip into a bad one starts with a patient trying to make a date they promised an airline. Buy a changeable ticket, or buy one-way and book the return when your surgeon signs off.
Knee replacement
Total knee replacement: in-country and at-home timeline
Representative schedule. Individual recovery varies widely.
Physiotherapy typically begins the day after surgery. Do not book a non-refundable return flight.
Hip replacement
Total hip replacement timeline
Anterior-approach patients often mobilize faster than posterior; both still need the same clearance.
Hip precautions differ by surgical approach. Get yours in writing before you leave the hospital.
Spine surgery
Spine surgery timeline
Spine runs longer at every stage and is the least forgiving procedure to rush.
Fusion consolidation continues for months after you're walking normally. Restrictions are not optional.
On the ground
Where you actually stay matters more than you think
Choose flat ground
Medellín is built on the walls of a valley. Some of the most appealing neighborhoods are also the steepest, which is a genuine problem on a walker or crutches. Ask specifically for accommodation on flat streets near the hospital, with elevator access and no interior stairs.
Consider a recovery house
Colombia has a well-developed casa de recuperación sector — supervised accommodation with nursing checks, meals, wound care and transport to physiotherapy. For a joint replacement patient travelling without a companion, this is usually the right call over a hotel.
Altitude is a real variable
Bogotá sits around 2,600 m. That affects exertion tolerance and, for some patients, sleep and swelling during early rehab. Medellín, at roughly 1,500 m, is gentler. If altitude is a concern for you, raise it with the surgeon before choosing a city.
Before you fly home
The discharge packet you should refuse to leave without
- Full operative report in English, including approach, findings and any intraoperative complications.
- Implant identification card or sticker sheet — manufacturer, product line, component sizes, lot numbers. You will need this for airport screening, future imaging and any revision.
- Post-operative imaging on a drive or as downloadable files, not just as printed film.
- Medication list with generic names, not local brand names, plus the anticoagulation plan and its stop date.
- Written rehabilitation protocol with weight-bearing status, range-of-motion targets by week, and restrictions.
- Written complication and revision policy, plus the direct contact for the surgeon or coordinator and the telehealth follow-up schedule.
- Fit-to-fly clearance in writing, with any in-flight instructions on compression, hydration and movement.
Line up your home orthopedist before you leave. Call local practices before the trip and ask directly whether they'll take you on for routine post-operative follow-up after surgery performed abroad. Some will, some won't. Finding out the answer while your leg is swollen is the wrong time.
Flying after orthopedic surgery
Long-haul flying after lower-limb surgery raises venous thromboembolism risk, which is why your surgeon sets the clearance date rather than your calendar. Expect guidance on anticoagulation, compression stockings, an aisle seat, and getting up to move on a schedule rather than when you feel like it. If you have a personal or family history of clotting disorders, say so before surgery, not after.
What good rehab looks like
The reason a Colombian package is often better value than a U.S. same-day-discharge pathway isn't just price — it's supervision. Three to five inpatient nights with physiotherapy starting the day after surgery, followed by a block of daily outpatient sessions, is more supervised early rehabilitation than many self-pay patients get at home. Use it. The patients who do worst are the ones who treat the rehab block as an inconvenience between surgery and the beach.
Related reading on the network: regenerative and cell-based joint therapy for patients trying to delay replacement, and the Colombia Medical Guide for trip logistics, documents and city-level planning.
Plan the recovery before you plan the surgery
Tell us your procedure and who's travelling with you. We'll map a realistic day-by-day schedule, including where to stay and how long to hold the return flight.