Bone marrow biopsy/punction

[GregBangkok]

Hello everybody, unfortunately my white and red blood cells are many low numbers. Some up also.

Now the Doktor in the hospital in Bangkok want to do a biopsy from the bone in my back.

The price estimate is about 75- 79 k Thai Bath. I want ask is there anyone who do this medical treatment also and where for what price.

 

Kind regards, Greg

[Sheryl]

This quote seems way too high to me. Was any breakdown of the costs given? Which hospital was this?

 

The procedure itself is well described here:  https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/bone-marrow-biopsy/about/pac-20393117

 

The main variable cost-wise is anesthetic. It can be done as an office procedure under local anesthetic and indeed, until development of the newer short acting anesthetic drugs (propofol etc) that is how it usually was done. BUT it is quite painful, as local anesthetic can only numb the skin, not the bone and that is where it really hurts, for about 10-15 minutes. Without IV sedation I would expect this to cost around 20-25k at a private hospital (including the pathology examination)

 

Alternatively it can be done under IV sedation, that ups the cost by around 20k (anesthetist services, IV, medication, use of OR or procedure room where you can be monitored brief stay in recovery area etc) but if you can afford it, well worth it in my opinion. Even with this no overnight stay needed , and I would still expect the cost to be under 50k total.

 

Will be least expensive in a government hospital but there may be a long wait and there will be a lot of red tape, can be difficult to navigate the system unless you have a Thai speaker with you and may need multiple repeat visits just to get the procedure scheduled.

 

Among private hospitals in Bangkok the following usually cost a bit less (and are just as good):

 

St Louis Hospital

Bangkok Christian Hospiatl

Camillian Hospital

Phyathai 2 Hospital

 

In particular I recommend you go to:

Assoc. Prof. Narin Voravud at Bangkok Chrsitian Hospital.

https://www.bch.in.th/find-doctor/doctor-profile/?smid=4704

He is also at Bumrungrad and you can see his CV here https://www.bumrungrad.com/en/doctors/Narin-Voravud

but having it done at Bangkok Christian will be less expensive

 

When asking about prices, you want to specify: "Bone marrow aspiration and biopsy" and make clear whether any quote you receive includes:

- IV sedation or only local anesthesia

-includes the cost of the pathology examination of the bone marrow

 

Otherwise you may be comparing apples and oranges with different hospital's quotes