Trend of hospitalizations and mortality from surgical causes in Brazil, 2008 to 2016

to evaluate the trend of hospitalazions for surgical procedures and surgical mortality in Brazil, from 2008 to 2016.

we conducted an ecological, time-series study. We obtained the data on surgical hospitalizations and mortality between 2008 and 2016 from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System (SUS). We performed the trend analysis using polynomial regression models.

in the period of the study, 37,565,785 surgical procedures were performed in the SUS, an average of 4,151,050 surgeries/year. The mean coefficient of the surgical procedures was 2.12 surgeries per 100 inhabitants/year, with a variation of 1.92 to 2.56 inhabitants/year among the country regions. The surgical mortality rate was 1.63%, ranging from 1.07% to 2.02% between the regions.

there was a significant trend towards increasing number of surgical procedures carried out and of surgical mortality; however, the coefficient of surgical procedures is lower than recommended by international standards, with regional disparities in access to surgical care and mortality, which undermines the guarantee of universal health coverage expect from the Unified Health System.