Herniated disc surgery in the Republic of Korea typically costs from AUD $1,121 to AUD $9,807. The total price depends on the surgical technique, hospital tier, and patient needs. In Australia, similar procedures cost around AUD $18,913 on average. Patients save around 71% by travelling to South Korea. Packages often include surgeon fees, hospital stays, medications, and initial follow-up care.
Bookimed Expert Insight: Choosing a specialist hospital like Leadheal Hospital or Nanoori Hospital offers incredible value. These centres specialise in endoscopic spine surgery, which often allows for faster recovery. Experienced surgeons like Dr Sangwon Hwang have performed over 6,000 procedures. Premium packages around A$28,000 include VIP rooms and 24-hour nursing. This ensures high-level care that often bypasses the long waitlists found in Australia.
| Republic of Korea | Thailand | Turkey | |
| Herniated disc surgery | from AUD $1,121 | from AUD $8,755 | from AUD $4,203 |
Professor Sangwon Hwang has performed over 6,000 spine surgeries and leads the specialized Spine Centre at Leadheal Hospital.
Dr. Lee Sanggu, MD, PhD, is a neurosurgeon. He is the Honorary Medical Director and Director of the Spine Center. He is also a Professor of Neurosurgery at Gachon University Gil Medical Center.
Clinical focus includes spine tumors, spinal disorders, minimally invasive spine surgery, and cervical disorders. Procedures include PEN, PNP, selective nerve block, microscopic or endoscopic discectomy, artificial disc replacement, minimally invasive spinal fusion, and vertebroplasty.
He earned a PhD in Medicine from Hanyang University. He served as Chief of Neurosurgery at the Veterans Health Service Medical Center. He is an executive board member of KNS, KNTS, and KSNS. He has served as Vice President and President of KSCS. He is a past president of KOMISS, KAME, and KSPNS. He is an AOSpine Asia Pacific Committee member and a full member of NASS. He was listed in Marquis Who’s Who in 2010.
Dr. Han Yeongmin is a neurosurgeon (MD, PhD). He is Medical Director and Director of the Neurosurgery Center at Incheon St. Mary’s Hospital. He treats cerebrovascular disease and peripheral nerve disorders. He also specializes in brain tumors and skull base surgery. Conditions include stroke, cerebral hemorrhage, cerebral infarction, and moyamoya disease. He performs PEN, PNP, and SNB. He also offers microscopic and endoscopic discectomy, artificial disc replacement, MIS-TLIF/minimally invasive spinal fusion, and vertebroplasty.
He earned his MD and PhD from The Catholic University of Korea. He served as a visiting professor in cerebrovascular and skull base surgery at Barrow Neurological Institute (Phoenix, Arizona, USA). He also served at Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington (Seattle, USA).
His publications include co-authorship of Chapter 52 of the Textbook of Korean Cerebrovascular Surgery. He also co-authored Acoustic Neuroma Oncology. He is a full member of KNS, KSCVS, KSBS, KBTS, KNTS, KSNS, and KSPNS.
Dr. So Jae-young is the Director of the Department of Neurosurgery at Naeun Hospital. He specializes in spinal tumors and disorders, minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS), cervical spine disorders, and head trauma.
He trained at Yonsei University Severance Hospital, where he completed an internship and a neurosurgery residency. He then completed a clinical fellowship at Gangnam Severance. He previously served as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at National Health Insurance Service Ilsan Hospital. He also served as Medical Director at Seoul Chuktap Hospital. He holds an M.S. in Medicine from Yonsei University College of Medicine.
He is a full member of the Korean Neurosurgical Society, Korean Spinal Neurosurgery Society, and Korean Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery Society. His publications include a 2024 Neurospine study on cervical dynamic MRI in spondylotic myelopathy (doi:10.14245/ns.2448166.083). They also cover techniques for unilateral biportal endoscopic spine surgery and a sellar reconstruction method using fibrin-coated collagen fleece.