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🇭🇷  Cosmetic surgery in Croatia

How to check the clinic and the surgeon in Croatia's own registers, the risks, and the days before you can fly home. We do not list or rank clinics.

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Not medical advice. Talk to your own doctor or dentist before you book. Tummy tuck, breast surgery, liposuction, nose and face surgery, buttock lifts. No surgery is risk-free, clinics abroad may not provide the follow-up, and the Brazilian butt lift has the highest death rate of all cosmetic procedures.

Check the clinic and the surgeon

Doctors

Croatian Medical Chamber: register of doctors (Imenik liječnika)

Search active members by first name and surname, or by their full membership number.

Dentists

Croatian Chamber of Dental Medicine

Dentists who practise must be members of the chamber and hold its licence to work independently. We found no public search: ask the dentist for their chamber licence, in writing.

The surgeon: Search the doctor in the Medical Chamber's register. For a dentist, ask for the Chamber of Dental Medicine licence (odobrenje za samostalan rad).

The rules in Croatia

  • Dentists who practise in Croatia must be members of the Croatian Chamber of Dental Medicine, which issues the licence to work independently.
  • As an EU country, it applies EU rules on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare: residents of another EU country can claim refunds only for care their own health system would pay for.

Croatia is in the European Union: EU rules on patients' rights in cross-border healthcare apply, but your own health system refunds only care it would pay for at home.

The trip

  • One trip, but plan how you would go back if you need more surgery, and how much that would cost.
  • The NHS advises not flying for 5 to 7 days after breast surgery or liposuction and for 7 to 10 days after facial procedures or a tummy tuck. The planner uses 7 days: ask your surgeon for your own operation.
  • Rest, no holiday: No alcohol, sun, sightseeing or swimming while you recover (NHS).
  • Earliest flight after breast surgery or liposuction: The NHS advises not flying for 5 to 7 days after these procedures.
  • Earliest flight after a tummy tuck or facial surgery: The NHS advises not flying for 7 to 10 days after these procedures: air travel and major surgery both raise the risk of a blood clot, which can be life threatening.

Your dates in the recovery planner · The full cost of the trip

Red flags

  • A 'consultation' only with salespeople or a coordinator.
  • Discounts, all-inclusive packages with hotel and flights, or finance deals pushed through social media (NHS England warns about 'bargain-basement' BBL deals).
  • Several procedures combined in one sitting to lower the price.
  • A package that flies you home before the days health services advise.

Ask the clinic

  1. Who is the surgeon, what training and qualifications do they have, which organisations do they belong to, and how many of these operations have they done?
  2. Does the surgeon speak a language I understand well enough to explain the procedure and my risks?
  3. When are my two consultations, and how long between them and the operation?
  4. What happens if there are complications, where is the follow-up, and who pays if I need more surgery?
  5. What insurance does the clinic or the surgeon have, and does it cover me?

Back home

🇬🇧  If you live in United Kingdom

The NHS does not pay for private treatment you choose abroad, and your EHIC or GHIC does not cover planned treatment. Standard travel insurance does not normally cover you if you travelled for elective surgery: you may need specialist cover.

The NHS is not liable for negligence or failure of treatment abroad, and the Foreign Office cannot usually help: planned treatment is treated as a commercial arrangement. Plan your aftercare and how records will be shared before you go.

🇮🇪  If you live in Ireland

The HSE Cross Border Directive scheme only refunds planned care in another EU or EEA country that is publicly funded in Ireland, with a referral, up to what it would cost in the Irish public system; travel and accommodation are not refunded. So cosmetic treatments and hair transplants, which are not publicly funded in Ireland, are outside it.

Ask your GP before you go how follow-up would work once you are home, and check whether your travel insurance covers planned treatment and its complications: many policies exclude it.

🇫🇷  If you live in France

Purely aesthetic procedures are not reimbursed by the Assurance Maladie, in France or abroad, and neither is the follow-up care of such an operation. Planned care abroad is only reimbursed when it is reimbursable in France, sometimes with prior authorisation.

If a complication occurs, the care it needs is medical and is covered normally. A result you are unhappy with is not a complication: corrective work is at your cost.

🇺🇸  If you live in United States

Check whether your health plan covers anything abroad: most do not cover planned treatment, and Original Medicare generally does not pay for care outside the United States, with limited exceptions. Consider supplemental cover, including medical evacuation.

Seek care promptly if a complication develops, during travel or after you return, and bring your overseas records in English. Legal recourse abroad may be more limited than in the United States.

🇦🇺  If you live in Australia

Medicare doesn't cover you when you're overseas, reciprocal health care agreements only cover some situations, and basic travel insurance rarely covers medical tourism: get a specialised policy for your procedure, its complications and medical evacuation, and tell your insurers everything.

You, your family or your insurer pay for further care or an evacuation. Consular staff can contact your family and give lists of English-speaking hospitals and lawyers, but cannot pay bills or recommend surgeons. Smartraveller advises taking someone with you.

🇳🇿  If you live in New Zealand

Make sure your travel insurance covers complications and medical evacuation, and talk to your health practitioner in New Zealand about the procedure and its risks before you go.

Get copies of your surgical details before you leave: problems can appear once you are home, and your practitioner in New Zealand will need them. Check with a health practitioner before flying after surgery.

🇸🇦  If you live in Saudi Arabia

The Ministry of Health sends patients abroad at its expense only by royal order or by a decision of the High Medical Committee approved by the minister. Planned treatment you choose yourself, such as cosmetic surgery, is private and at your own cost.

For patients the ministry refers abroad, the Saudi health attaché in the country of treatment arranges the appointment and follows the patient; private patients are on their own. Talk to your doctor in Saudi Arabia before you go and bring your records home.

Official travel advice

Sources

More on cosmetic surgery abroad and on treatment in Croatia.