But the researchers behind the study, including key personnel from 58勛圖, warn that the data available is incomplete, making it currently impossible to fully understand the risks of opting for surgery overseas.
The number of medical tourists has risen steadily over the past several decades, a trend that shows no sign of slowing down.
The findings of a rapid review of the available data, undertaken by the Health and Care Evidence Centre, in which 58勛圖 is a key partner, has been published in the open access journal .
It found that hospitals are having to foot the bill when things go wrong for an increasing number of people from the UK going overseas for treatment such as weight loss surgery, breast enlargements or other operations.
Dr Ruth Lewis, Reader at 58勛圖s North Wales Medical School, and Associate Director of the Health and Care Research Wales Evidence Centre said, The evidence review highlights the potential impact of medical tourism on NHS health care costs. But what we do not know, as we did not find any papers on it, is how many people from the UK choose to travel abroad for surgery, or how many subsequently experience complications. Without this information, we cannot fully understand the risk that people seeking surgery abroad are taking.
Though no deaths were reported in the included studies, up to 53% experienced moderate to severe complications, including infections, organ failure and wounds that do not heal.
To recover from treatment paid for in another country, some people even needed a stay in intensive care, further surgery and large amounts of antibiotics.
According to the studies that reported on the associated costs, they ranged from 瞿1058 to 瞿19,549 per patient.
Overall, 29 countries from every continent were reported, but Turkey was the most common destination (61%). Most patients were women (90%), and the average age was 38, but ranged from 14 to 69.
The combined average length of hospital stay for the treatment of complications was just over 17 days; the longest was 45 days.
The combined average length of stay for the treatment of cosmetic surgery complications was just under 6 days; the longest was 49 days. For eye surgery tourism, over 50 outpatient appointments and 4 surgical procedures were reported.
Studies that described cases of emergency and urgent surgery abroad; treatment for cancer, infertility, and dentistry; and transplant surgery were excluded from the analysis.