What is it?
Total knee and total hip replacement are established elective procedures in China, performed in high volume at tertiary orthopaedic departments. Unlike the drug topics on this site, there is no approval event to track: the changes that matter are in technique — unicompartmental and robotic-assisted arthroplasty — in implant selection, and in enhanced-recovery protocols.
China's relevance here is not novelty, it is access: short waiting times compared with many public systems, high case volume per surgeon, and a wide implant market — against a cost base that is often a fraction of the same operation in the US or Western Europe.
What is approved in China?
Joint replacement is not an approval-gated treatment. The implants are NMPA-registered medical devices, covering both domestic and imported systems. What varies by hospital is which implant families it stocks, and whether it offers robotic or navigation-assisted surgery.
This topic therefore tracks procedural updates and device news rather than drug approvals.
Where is it available in China?
Tertiary orthopaedic departments in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Wuhan, Hangzhou and Xi'an perform these operations routinely. The meaningful difference between hospitals is not whether they do joint replacement — it is implant inventory, revision experience, and rehabilitation pathway.
Our procedure guides carry the operational detail: what is included, typical stay, recovery milestones and the questions worth asking the surgeon.
- •Joint replacement overview →
- •Total knee replacement →
- •Total hip replacement →
- •Hospital directory →
Who is eligible?
Candidacy is clinical: end-stage osteoarthritis or other joint destruction after conservative treatment has failed, plus fitness for anaesthesia and a rehabilitation plan the patient can actually complete.
Partial (unicompartmental) replacement is only suitable for a subset of knee patients, and the decision depends on which compartments are affected — that is an imaging question, not a preference.
Suitability is decided by the orthopaedic surgeon after imaging. Nothing on this page is an assessment of whether a specific patient is a candidate.
What does it cost?
Cost is driven more by implant tier than by hospital tier: a domestic implant and an imported premium implant can differ by several times, while the surgical fee moves far less.
Our joint replacement guides carry hospital-derived cost ranges and itemised breakdowns. We deliberately do not repeat a single number here, because the implant choice moves it more than anything else — and because a number without the implant specified is misleading.
Published price band: not published — we obtain it in writing from the specific hospital.
- •Total knee replacement cost and process →
- •Total hip replacement cost and process →
How do I start?
Elective surgery is the easiest category on this site to plan, because the timeline is under the patient's control rather than a manufacturing slot's.
- •Send recent imaging (X-ray and MRI), the orthopaedic opinion you already have, and any relevant history.
- •We shortlist surgeons and hospitals by procedure volume and implant availability.
- •The surgeon reviews imaging and confirms candidacy and implant options before travel.
- •Book the operation, pre-operative assessment and the rehabilitation stay.
- •Interpretation and accompaniment for consultations, admission, discharge and the first follow-up.
What we don't know
What we don't know
The questions patients actually ask — and the ones no hospital or regulator publishes. Listed here instead of guessed at.
- •Which implant brands each hospital stocks is not published.
- •Robotic-assisted arthroplasty availability is not published per hospital.
- •Rehabilitation protocol and length of stay vary by hospital and are not published.
- •Whether a surgeon will accept a patient with a previous arthroplasty on the same joint is not published.
- •Revision surgery pricing is not published and is not comparable to primary replacement.
Entries on this topic
No dated entry has been published on this topic yet. The standing picture above is maintained regardless.
Practical next steps
Check which hospitals offer it
Filter by city and department, then confirm the specific procedure or drug is available on the day you arrive.
See what it costs
Published price ranges for the operations in this section, with the items that are usually quoted separately.
Get someone with you
Registration, interpretation and follow-up appointments handled by a coordinator who stays with you on the day.
Not sure whether this applies to you?
Send the diagnosis and any imaging reports. We tell you which of these options a hospital would realistically consider, and what has to be confirmed before you book a flight.
This page is general information, not medical advice, diagnosis or a recommendation for treatment. Eligibility and pricing are decided by the treating hospital after it reviews your records.