Frequently asked questions

Our partner hospitals are accredited by the China Healthcare Quality Management (CHQM) framework and several hold JCI-equivalent international accreditation. Equipment is comparable to leading Western centers: endovascular suites, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, advanced wound-care dressings. Our specialists have trained internationally and publish in peer-reviewed journals.

Our partner specialists work across vascular surgery, multidisciplinary wound care, infectious disease, and reconstructive surgery. Their focus areas and training are described on our doctor profile pages.

We work with accredited partner centers equipped for advanced diabetic foot care — including endovascular revascularization, negative-pressure wound therapy, and staged reconstructive surgery. We share the specific center relevant to your case during coordination.

Costs depend on wound severity, required procedures, and length of stay. We provide a transparent cost breakdown before you commit to anything — covering inpatient stay, surgical fees, consumables, and our coordination service. Most patients find total all-in costs are 60–80% lower than equivalent private care in the US or UK. We do not charge for initial consultations.

We work with international health insurers and can provide detailed invoices and clinical documentation to support your reimbursement claim. Some international insurance plans cover treatment at accredited facilities abroad. We recommend checking your policy before confirming travel. Self-pay patients receive the same pricing with no markup.

No. You receive an itemized cost estimate before committing, and we tell you if anything changes as your treatment plan is confirmed. Initial consultations are free.

Your dedicated medical coordinator is fully bilingual and accompanies you through every step: hospital consultations, ward rounds, discharge planning, and follow-up calls. All written treatment summaries and discharge notes are provided in English. Many of our senior specialists also communicate directly in English.

One dedicated bilingual medical coordinator manages your case end to end, so you always know who to reach and never have to re-explain your situation.

Yes. Written treatment summaries, imaging reports, and discharge notes are provided in English so you and your local physician can review them.

Most patients travel on a medical or tourist visa. We provide an invitation letter and supporting documentation for your application. Requirements vary by country; confirm the specifics with your local Chinese embassy or consulate.

Length of stay depends on wound severity and the procedures involved — advanced cases often require several weeks. We give you an estimated range after reviewing your records, and update it as your plan is confirmed.

Yes. We help arrange accommodation and local logistics for one accompanying family member so you have support throughout treatment.

Grade 4–5 cases are complex and we won't make promises we can't keep — outcomes depend on vascular supply, infection status, and overall health. What we can offer is an honest specialist review of your imaging and records. In many cases where amputation seemed inevitable, revascularization combined with advanced wound management has achieved limb salvage. We will tell you clearly if your case is not suitable for treatment here.

Depending on your case, care may involve revascularization, multidisciplinary wound care with negative-pressure therapy, osteomyelitis management, or reconstructive surgery. Our treatment pages give educational overviews of each approach.

You leave with a full English discharge summary, and we remain available for follow-up questions. Where helpful, we coordinate with your local physician to support continuity of care.

We do not promise outcomes — no honest medical team does. What we promise is a plan at every stage. If the initial approach is not achieving expected progress, your multidisciplinary team reviews the case and adjusts: alternative surgical techniques, different wound management protocols, or a revised timeline. If, after thorough specialist assessment, limb salvage is genuinely not achievable, we help you transition to the best available next step — whether that is a controlled amputation with reconstructive planning to maximize mobility, or palliative wound care to manage quality of life. You are never left without a clear next step. If the treatment plan changes significantly from the original estimate, we discuss revised costs with you before proceeding and you can choose not to continue at any point.

Yes, and we will tell you during the free record review rather than after you have traveled. Cases where we would advise against travel include: complete arterial occlusion with no reconstructable target vessels confirmed on imaging, active uncontrolled systemic sepsis requiring ICU-level stabilization first, or severe Charcot neuroarthropathy with complete midfoot collapse where the structural damage is beyond surgical reconstruction. These situations are rare and typically involve multiple compounding factors. Many cases that appear extreme on paper turn out to have options after specialist review — so the record review is worth doing even if you have been told your case is too far gone. We would rather tell you honestly that we cannot help than have you travel unnecessarily.

The remote record review gives a preliminary clinical direction based on the imaging and reports you provide. The in-person assessment includes hands-on examination, fresh imaging, and detailed vascular studies that a remote review cannot replicate. Occasionally, the in-person findings change the treatment plan — the wound may be more or less extensive than imaging suggested, or vascular access may differ from what the CT angiography showed. When this happens, your treating team explains the revised plan and provides an updated cost estimate before proceeding. You are under no obligation to continue if the revised plan does not meet your expectations. This is a sign of clinical thoroughness, not inconsistency — and it is one reason we recommend the free record review before committing to travel.

For routine wound checks, local follow-up is ideal. But when a wound is not healing, is deteriorating, or involves vascular disease or bone infection, the depth of specialist experience matters more than proximity. International care is worth considering when your local options have reached their limits — provided you have coordinated travel and bilingual clinical support throughout. We handle that coordination.

Look for a multidisciplinary team rather than a single clinician: a vascular surgeon or interventional radiologist for blood flow issues, an infectious disease specialist for infected wounds, a wound care nurse specialist, and ideally a reconstructive surgeon for tissue coverage. Hospitals with dedicated diabetic foot clinics generally have better limb salvage outcomes than those managing DFU as a general wound. If your local provider is a single clinician without vascular access, seek a second opinion.

Consider looking further if your wound has shown no measurable improvement after four weeks of appropriate care, if you have been told amputation may be necessary, if diagnostic imaging has not been performed, or if infection has not resolved on antibiotics. Distance is a real barrier, but a non-healing or worsening wound carries a higher risk than the inconvenience of specialist travel. We offer a free remote record review — so you can get a specialist opinion without committing to travel.

Ask specifically: How many DFU cases do you manage per year? Do you have an endovascular team on site for revascularization? What is your limb salvage rate for Grade 3–5 wounds? A centre that handles DFU as a side practice will answer these questions vaguely. A specialist centre will have clear, measurable answers. Our partner hospitals manage hundreds of DFU cases annually and can provide published outcome data.