The short answer
Many heart operations can be done in Nigeria by trained cardiac teams, and some families still choose to travel. Judge the team, the intensive care and the follow-up plan rather than the country, and count the whole episode: weeks away, a long flight while the breastbone heals, and lifelong checks that happen at home. Mezo does not run a heart unit, but a surgeon can review the echo and tests and write a plan before you decide.
Ask a surgeon to review the caseMedically reviewed by Dr Debo Odulana, Founder and Chief Executive, Mezo. Last reviewed . This page is general information, not a diagnosis. Care is decided with you after an examination.
Why families look abroad for heart surgery
The reasons are real: long waiting lists at the few centres that do open heart surgery, worry about intensive care, and stories of relatives who did well abroad. Those concerns deserve straight answers. The fair test is to ask the same questions of any team, in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu or abroad, and compare the answers.
Some heart operations are rarely done in Nigeria and may genuinely be better done elsewhere, especially complex surgery on newborns. A surgeon who reviews the case should say so plainly.
What a heart surgery quote usually covers, and what it leaves out
Heart surgery quotes are built from the surgeon and anaesthetist, the perfusionist who runs the heart-lung machine, theatre time, the valve or other device, intensive care days and the ward stay. The largest swings come from extra intensive care days, a second operation for bleeding, and the valve type. Ask for each part in writing. When you compare a quote from abroad with one at home, add the trip costs below.
- Flights for the patient and at least one companion, and the visa process
- Hotel nights before admission and after discharge, while you wait to be cleared to fly
- The companion's time off work, and money for food and local transport
- Tests the foreign hospital repeats on arrival, even when you bring recent ones
- Medicines to bring home, and the blood tests, scans and reviews after you return
- What happens, and who pays, if a complication shows up after you are back in Nigeria
Recovery time and flying home
After valve or bypass surgery most people stay about a week in hospital, start with a day or two in intensive care, and take two to three months to recover fully. Heavy lifting is avoided for about three months while the breastbone heals. A long flight soon after surgery raises the risk of blood clots, and a problem in the air is far from help. Surgeons abroad usually ask overseas patients to stay on after discharge. Ask how long, and do not book the return flight until the surgeon says when.
The risks of going home too early
The first weeks bring the problems that need a surgeon who knows the case: fluid around the heart or lungs, a wound infection, an irregular heartbeat, or a valve infection. With a mechanical valve, warfarin needs regular blood tests from the first week. If the operation was abroad, a doctor in Nigeria starts with no operation note unless you carry one. Arrange the follow-up at home before you leave, not after you land.
- The full operation note, not only a discharge summary
- Copies of every scan and the images themselves, on a disc or a download link
- The tissue (histology) report, where anything was removed
- Details of any implant, valve, shunt or device, with its make and model
- Your medicine list with doses, and how long each one continues
- A named contact at the hospital abroad, and how a doctor in Nigeria can reach them
Questions to ask any heart team
- Exactly what does the quote include: surgeon, anaesthetist, theatre, intensive care days, implants, tests, medicines?
- What is excluded, and what is the daily rate if I need more days in intensive care or on the ward?
- How many of these operations does the surgeon do in a typical year?
- How long must I stay after discharge before I can fly home?
- Who looks after me if something goes wrong at week two, week six or month six?
- Will you send my records and operation note to my doctor in Nigeria?
How Mezo helps
Mezo does not operate on hearts. A surgeon reviews the echocardiogram, angiogram and letters and writes a plan: whether surgery is needed now, which operation, and the kind of team it needs. Mezo helps arrange the referral, and a written quote comes only from a team that agrees to take the case. If the plan is to travel, the same review gives you the questions to ask, and the follow-up at home can be arranged before you go.
What it costs on Mezo
One fixed price, paid online.
Common questions
Is heart surgery in India better than in Nigeria?
Not automatically. Good and poor results happen in every country. Judge the team, the intensive care and the follow-up plan, and remember that recovery and lifelong checks happen where you live.
How soon can I fly after heart surgery abroad?
Your surgeon decides, based on how you are recovering and your clot risk. Many ask overseas patients to stay on for a period after discharge. Do not book the flight until the surgeon has said when.
My child has a hole in the heart. Must we travel?
Not always. Many holes close on their own, and many that need closing can be treated in Nigeria, some without open surgery. A paediatric cardiologist's review of the echocardiogram is the first step.
Does Mezo do heart surgery?
No. Mezo gives you a surgeon's review and a written plan, and helps arrange the referral to a heart team that does the operation.
The procedures
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Get a written plan before you decide
Send the echo, the tests and the letters. A surgeon reviews the case and writes a plan, and a quote follows only from a team that agrees to operate.
Ask about heart valve surgerySources and further reading
The guidelines and patient information this page is checked against. Care in Nigeria follows the same evidence; what differs is the price and where it is done.
- Treatment abroad checklist. NHS. Official publication.
- Recovering from a heart valve replacement. NHS. Patient information.
- Recovering from a coronary artery bypass graft. NHS. Patient information.
Links last checked 3 November 2026.
Medical disclaimer: This guide is general information and does not replace advice from your own doctor. Where your centre's instructions differ from this guide, follow theirs.