Himchan Hospital : A Pioneer in Knee Replacement Surgeries

Himchan Hospital has set an unprecedented milestone in Korean orthopedic history, surpassing 150,000 cumulative knee replacement surgeries.

The hospital announced that a combined count of all knee replacement procedures — including total and partial knee replacements — performed across its eight facilities since opening reached a total of 151,720 cases as of 2025. The network includes three hospitals operated directly under the Himchan brand (Mokdong, Gangseo, and Gangnam) and five hospitals affiliated with Sangwon Medical Foundation (Incheon, Bupyeong, Gangbuk, Busan, and Changwon).

"This record goes far beyond a simple count," said Changhyeon Nam, Director of Mokdong Himchan Hospital. "It means that through 150,000 distinct clinical cases, our surgeons have continuously refined their expertise. Built on this vast accumulation of data, we have established the foundation for precision medicine — enabling us to find optimal solutions even in complex and high-difficulty cases — and this is what continues to strengthen the trust patients place in our care."

According to data from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service (HIRA), a total of 1,033,516 knee replacement surgeries were performed nationwide over the past ten years (2015–2024), of which Himchan Hospital carried out 82,672 — approximately an 8% national market share. The hospital's annual average of 8,267 procedures represents 76.6% of the combined annual average for all tertiary hospitals in Korea over the same period, 23.2% of the figure for general hospitals, and 15.2% of the figure for hospital-level institutions.

Himchan Hospital's achievements are recognized not only in volume, but also in qualitative innovation through advanced robotic technology.

Since pioneering the introduction of the Mako SmartRobotics system in 2020, Himchan Hospital has performed approximately 87% of all knee replacement surgeries robotically from 2021 through 2025, establishing robotic-assisted surgery as its standard of care.

According to Stryker Korea — the Korean subsidiary of Stryker, which manufactures the Mako system — Mokdong Himchan Hospital's cumulative Mako robotic surgery count stood at 14,373 cases (total and partial replacements combined) as of the end of January 2026, the highest volume recorded at any single institution in Korea.

Notably, the hospital has achieved the highest global volume of Mako robotic total knee replacements at a single institution for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025 — surpassing not only major Korean university hospitals but also leading orthopedic centers worldwide, a distinction widely regarded as a testament to the strength of Korean medicine on the global stage. In recognition of this achievement, Himchan Hospital recently received a commendation plaque from Stryker Korea.

Backed by its extensive clinical experience, Himchan Hospital has also remained at the forefront of medical research, continuously publishing high-quality academic papers. A representative example is the Himchan Hospital Medical Paper Compendium, published in 2024, which brings together 117 clinical papers on joint and spine treatment. The collection includes 78 papers published in SCIE-indexed international journals between the establishment of the hospital's in-house Joint Medical Research Institute in 2007 and 2023, along with additional publications in domestic and international academic journals. To date, Himchan Hospital holds a total of 139 published papers in domestic and international journals, of which 98 are indexed in SCIE.

Research outcomes in robotic joint replacement surgery are equally noteworthy. Himchan Hospital has published a total of 10 international papers on Mako robotic surgery, seven of which have been accepted in globally recognized SCIE-indexed journals — the highest number published by any single medical institution in Korea.

The hospital's papers have also achieved high citation rates on PubMed, the world's largest biomedical literature search engine and a widely used tool for accessing global medical and clinical research. High citation rates on PubMed are widely interpreted as an indicator of a study's global impact, visibility, and reference value within the international medical community.

"The landmark of 150,000 procedures is a testament to the combined expertise of Himchan Hospital's medical staff and the trust our patients have placed in us," said You Keun Kim, Director of Bupyeong Himchan Hospital. "Going forward, we will continue to build on our vast clinical data through ongoing research to further improve surgical success rates and focus all our efforts on creating an environment where patients can receive care with complete confidence."