What's the most expensive surgery?

Asked by: Marc Ryan  |  Last update: October 16, 2025
Score: 4.7/5 (18 votes)

Heart Transplant: The Costliest Procedure Heart transplants top the list as the most expensive medical procedure in 2024. The complexity of the surgery, the need for donor matching, and the lifelong post-transplant care contribute to the high cost.

What's the most expensive surgery ever?

International Health Insurance: The 10 Most Expensive Medical Procedures
  1. Intestinal transplantation. Cost: USD 1,121,800. ...
  2. Heart transplant. Cost: USD 787,700. ...
  3. Bone marrow transplant. ...
  4. Lung transplant. ...
  5. Liver transplant. ...
  6. Open heart surgery. ...
  7. Pancreatic transplant. ...
  8. Kidney transplantation.

What are the top 5 major surgeries?

The 10 Most Common Surgeries in the U.S.
  • Joint Replacement. ...
  • Circumcision. ...
  • Broken Bone Repair. ...
  • Angioplasty and Atherectomy. ...
  • Stent Procedure. ...
  • Hysterectomy. ...
  • Gallbladder Removal (Cholecystectomy) Every year about 460,000 U.S. residents have a cholecystectomy. ...
  • Heart Bypass Surgery (Coronary Artery Bypass Graft)

What is the most expensive thing in a hospital?

Currently, exploratory chest surgery, a pre-diagnostic surgery that physicians perform to better diagnose or treat an illness, is the most expensive hospital procedure, costing an average of $137,533. Employers can help employees manage their medical costs by offering a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA).

What is the riskiest surgery?

A craniectomy is a type of brain surgery and one of the riskiest surgeries. This medical procedure involves the removal of part of your skull to relieve any pressure on your brain. Although modern technology means it is a more common procedure, it is still very risky.

Top 10 Most Expensive Surgeries

27 related questions found

What's the hardest surgery to go?

One of the most complex surgeries that patients can undergo is surgery related to the liver, pancreas, and gastrointestinal system. The surgery itself is a lengthy and complex process and requires a team of specialists to carry out the operation.

What is the least expensive surgery?

Cataract surgery is the least expensive on our list with an average cost of about $3,441. In this procedure, a cloudy eye lens is removed and typically replaced with an artificial lens. With either having cataracts or having had surgery to correct it, it is one of the most common and regularly performed surgery.

What is the most expensive scan?

MRI scanning is usually more expensive than X-ray imaging or CT scanning.

What's the highest medical bill?

It may be the largest hospital bill ever. Estimated at $9.2 million, including interest, the bill is from Tampa (Fla.) General Hospital for the care of deceased Tameka Jaqway Campwell.

What is the mother of all surgeries?

So extensive, in fact, that the procedure has a nickname: MOAS — The Mother of All Surgeries — in which every organ affected by the cancer is taken out. In Diaz's case, this included her appendix, ovaries, fallopian tubes, spleen and sections of her intestines.

What surgery takes 10 hours?

HIPEC surgery is a complex procedure. It usually requires eight to 10 hours in the operating room.

What is the most failed surgery?

Disc surgeries of the spine have a failure rate greater than 50%. 10% of patients experience a worsening of symptoms after surgical intervention.

What surgery pays the most?

Neurosurgery

A neurosurgeon is the highest-paid doctor on our list. Neurosurgery encompasses surgery of the brain, spinal cord/column, and peripheral nerves.

What is the most expensive sickness to treat?

Heart disease has come top of a league table of costs of treatment for the 15 most expensive conditions in the United States. A new study that analysed annual healthcare costs in the United States has found that heart disease, cancer, and trauma are the three biggest conditions in terms of cost.

What is the most expensive medical procedure?

Heart transplants top the list as the most expensive medical procedure in 2024. The complexity of the surgery, the need for donor matching, and the lifelong post-transplant care contribute to the high cost. The average cost of a heart transplant in the United States is approximately $1.3 million.

What is the most expensive thing in the world?

History Supreme Yacht is the most expensive thing in the world with a price tag of $4.8 billion. While it's not pronounced as the largest yacht in the world, it still took three years to design this luxury.

What is the hardest surgery to have?

These six procedures are some of the most complicated medical surgeries in the world.
  1. Thoracic Aortic Dissection Repair. ...
  2. Craniectomy. ...
  3. Coronary Revascularization. ...
  4. Surgical Ventricular Restoration. ...
  5. Septal Myectomy. ...
  6. Spinal Osteomyelitis Surgery.

What is the least paying surgeon?

The report found that orthopedic specialists were the highest paid specialty on average last year, with average annual earnings of $558,000, followed by plastic surgery at $536,000. Meanwhile, the lowest paid specialty last year was diabetes and endocrinology, with average annual earnings of $256,000.

What is the #1 surgery in the nation?

An appendectomy is the most common surgery in the US when it comes to general surgery.

What is the number 1 painful surgery?

In general, research has found that orthopedic surgeries, or those involving bones, are the most painful. However, researchers also found that some minor surgeries or those classed as keyhole or laparoscopic could also cause significant pain.

What are the top 3 riskiest surgeries?

Which Surgical Procedures Are the Most Dangerous?
  • Brain surgery. One of the most dangerous procedures is any type of surgery on the brain or skull. ...
  • Heart surgery. ...
  • Cancer surgery. ...
  • Transplants. ...
  • Spinal cord surgery. ...
  • What if my doctor made a mistake during my surgery?

What is the hardest surgeon to be?

What is the hardest surgeon to be? It's difficult to become any type of surgeon, but if you want to equate “longest” with “hardest,” then the answer is neurological surgery, which has a seven-year residency—the longest of all postgraduate surgical residencies. It is (often) brain surgery, after all.