Plastic surgery in Colombia: what it costs in 2026, where to go, and how to judge a surgeon

Disclosure: MedTravel Colombia may be compensated by clinics or travel partners when readers inquire or book through this site. Compensation never changes our prices, verification rules or what we say about a clinic.

Cosmetic surgery is a large industry in Colombia. The International Society of Aesthetic Plastic Surgery counted 490,944 procedures there in 2024, performed by 960 plastic surgeons, and on average 30% of patients came from abroad — most often from the United States, Spain and Canada⁵. That volume is why prices are lower and surgeons are experienced. It is also why the market has a long tail of unlicensed operators.

This guide sets out what surgeons and packages publish on their own pages, what the numbers include, how the four main cities differ, and how to judge a surgeon when every clinic claims to be the best. The short answer on price comes first; the rest of the page is the long answer.

01What is the cost of plastic surgery in Colombia?

There is no single price list for plastic surgery in Colombia. Surgeons and packagers publish their own starting prices, and only a handful of them publish anything at all. The table brings together every figure we could verify on a surgeon’s or listing’s own page: one Medellín surgeon’s 2026 price guide¹, and one Cartagena practice’s packages as listed on Medical Tourism Co.², next to the US averages published by the American Society of Plastic Surgeons³.

Read the table carefully, because the comparison is not like for like. The Colombian surgeon quotes include the operating room and anesthesia; the US numbers do not. Several package rows combine procedures — the $10,410 package pairs a breast augmentation with lipo 360. And liposuction shows that a Colombian all-in quote ($8,500 at one surgeon) can exceed a US surgeon’s fee on paper ($4,711) while still costing less once US anesthesia and facility bills are added.

Colombia plastic surgery cost vs a US surgeon’s fee

There is no single number. The plastic surgery cost in Colombia depends on the procedure, the surgeon, the facility, how many procedures you combine and how many recovery nights you need. Plastic surgery prices in Colombia that surgeons publish are starting points; the procedure guides linked in the table price each one in detail.

02Plastic surgery packages in Colombia: how to read one

Two kinds of price show up when you research plastic surgery in Colombia. A surgeon quote covers the operation: the Medellín guide above lists surgeon, anesthesia, operating room and follow-up for breast augmentation, with liposuction included in the tummy tuck “when indicated”¹. A package wraps the operation in the logistics around it. The Premium Care packages listed on Medical Tourism Co. name six inclusions: a private recovery suite, airport transfers, post-op follow-ups, medications, garments and local medical travel insurance².

Plastic surgery Colombia packages are convenient, but convenience is not the same as value. Ask the packager for the surgeon-only price as well, then price your own lodging for the same number of nights. Premium Care’s own site describes all-inclusive packages but publishes no prices⁴, so the listing is the only public figure. Treat any package that will not name the operating facility as incomplete.

03Colombia plastic surgery: Medellín vs Cartagena vs Bogotá vs Cali

City matters less than the surgeon and the facility, but it shapes the trip: flights, climate, altitude and where you recover.

Plastic surgery in Medellín, Colombia

In Medellín, Colombia, plastic surgery is a visible industry, with the deepest bench of surgeons who publish English-language prices for foreign patients — the Medellín price column in the table comes from one of them. The city sits at about 1,495 m with a mean temperature near 23 °C¹⁹, and, at the time of writing, has nonstop flights from Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, New York and Houston. Four JCI-accredited organizations are in the city itself, plus one in neighboring Envigado. Medellín is also where the enforcement problem is sharpest: Antioquia’s health authority closed 64 aesthetic centers in two years, and 17 deaths in Medellín were linked to procedures at irregular centers between 2024 and May 2026¹⁶. Many patients recover in private recovery houses; the city’s own tourism guide says only one such facility holds a licence from the Antioquia health authority¹⁷. Whoever cares for you after surgery deserves the same checks as the surgeon. Put simply, for plastic surgery Colombia, Medellín has the most choice and the most need for checks.

Plastic surgery in Cartagena, Colombia

For Cartagena, Colombia, plastic surgery is a smaller market with one well-documented practice: Premium Care Plastic Surgery, whose surgeons have published three peer-reviewed reviews of their international patients (below). Cartagena is at sea level and hot, around 27 °C on average, which some patients find uncomfortable in compression garments. Note that none of Colombia’s 11 JCI-accredited organizations is in Cartagena⁹, so if you are comparing plastic surgery Cartagena Colombia options, ask exactly which facility you will be operated in and check it in REPS.

Plastic surgery in Bogotá, Colombia

Bogotá has three JCI-accredited hospitals and the widest choice of US nonstop flights, but we found no clinic-published plastic surgery price there. If you are comparing plastic surgery Bogotá Colombia options, ask each surgeon for an all-in written quote. The city sits at about 2,640 m¹⁹; some visitors feel the altitude for the first day or two, which is worth discussing with your surgeon before a general anesthetic.

Plastic surgery in Cali, Colombia

In Cali, Colombia, plastic surgery has two large JCI-accredited anchors, Fundación Valle del Lili and Clínica Imbanaco. We found no clinic-published prices, so anyone searching “Cali plastic surgery Colombia” should expect to request quotes directly. The US advisory treats the rest of Valle del Cauca as Level 4 — Do not travel, with Cali itself excluded¹⁵; plan to stay in the city.

04How to judge the “best plastic surgery in Colombia”

Every clinic says it offers the best plastic surgery in Colombia, and we do not rank surgeons. “Best plastic surgery Colombia” is really four checks, and each one takes minutes:

1. ReTHUS. Every health professional in Colombia must be registered in the national workforce registry run by the Ministry of Health⁷. The lookup needs the surgeon’s ID number (cédula); a legitimate practice gives it to you. The record should show plastic surgery as the specialty, not general medicine.
2. SCCP membership. The Sociedad Colombiana de Cirugía Plástica, Estética y Reconstructiva is the national specialty society and the one ISAPS lists for Colombia. Its public directory filters by city⁶. The directory does not say what membership certifies, so use it alongside ReTHUS, not instead of it.
3. REPS. The facility where you are operated on must appear in REPS, the register of licensed health providers⁸. The public site accepts a guest login.
4. The operating room. Ask where the surgery happens, then check that place. Joint Commission International accredits 11 organizations in Colombia⁹:

If you are weighing the best plastic surgery in Medellín, Colombia, these four checks do more than any review count or social-media following. Our surgeon-verification guide walks through each lookup screen by screen, and our how we verify page explains why clinics appear on this site: because they publish prices, not because we rank them.

05What the safety data actually says

Most of the published outcome data on plastic surgery in Colombia comes from a single source, and it is important to know which one. Three reviews in Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Global Open were written by surgeons at Premium Care Plastic Surgery in Cartagena about their own international patients — a conflict of interest the reader should weigh:

• 2019: 658 international patients and 1,796 procedures; 90% came from North America, and every case was done in an accredited hospital¹⁰.
• 2020: 460 consecutive international patients; 98.2% said they would refer friends and family¹¹.
• 2025: 2,324 patients and 7,141 procedures between 2013 and 2024, 89% from the US or Canada. The complication rate was 6.2% per patient and 2.2% per procedure¹².

These are real numbers from a real practice, and they are useful: roughly one patient in 16 had some complication. They describe one well-organized practice, though, not the country. The other side of the ledger is public too. The US State Department’s Colombia advisory, Level 3 — Reconsider travel since March 31, 2026, states that US citizens have suffered serious complications and even died from cosmetic or other elective surgeries, and advises researching both the doctor and the recovery facility¹⁵. The CDC notes that the most common complications in medical tourists are infections, and that both surgery and air travel raise the risk of blood clots¹³.

Our longer piece on whether surgery in Colombia is safe goes through the evidence in more detail, and the statistics page collects the volume figures.

06How long to stay before flying home

The flight home sets the length of the trip. The two guidelines to plan around:

1. Body procedures5–7 days. The ASPS suggests waiting five to seven days before flying after body procedures such as liposuction and breast augmentation¹⁴.
2. Face procedures7–10 days. The ASPS suggests seven to 10 days after cosmetic procedures of the face, including facelifts, eyelid surgery and rhinoplasty; the CDC repeats this guidance¹³.
3. Chest or abdomen10 days. The CDC says patients should not fly for 10 days after chest or abdominal surgery — the rule that governs a tummy tuck or mommy makeover.
4. CombinedThe longest rule wins. A breast augmentation with a tummy tuck is abdominal surgery. Your surgeon’s clearance comes first.

Before you leave, get complete records in English: the operative report, anesthesia record, medications and, for implants, the implant card. The CDC recommends it for every medical traveler.

07If something goes wrong: your recourse

This is the part package pages leave out. The CDC warns that patients treated abroad might not have the same legal recourse they have at home¹³, and the ASPS says there may be no legal recourse if negligence occurs and that packages give limited follow-up care, if any¹⁴. Standard travel insurance will not fill the gap: SafetyWing, for example, excludes charges when the purpose of travel is medical or cosmetic treatment, and complications of treatment it did not cover¹⁸.

Practical protection looks like this: a written agreement stating what the surgeon covers if you need a revision or a return to the operating room, a named contact once you are home, a US doctor who has agreed to see you after you land, and supplemental medical and medical-evacuation cover. Our travel insurance guide sets out which policies cover complications and which do not.