The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on unilateral inguinal hernioplasty surgery in Brazil

OBJECTIVE: to analyze data from patients hospitalized for unilateral inguinal hernioplasty in Brazil in the year before the COVID-19 pandemic, and during the period of the pandemic. METHODS: this is a descriptive study, using data referring to hospitalizations for the surgical procedure of unilateral inguinal hernioplasty in Brazil from March 2019 to February 2020, comparing with data from March 2020 to February 2021. Data were collected from the Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS) and the selected variables were: number of hospitalizations, average hospital stay rate and mortality rate. RESULTS: in all, 119,312 hospitalizations were performed for unilateral inguinal hernioplasty in Brazil from March 2019 to February 2020. During the pandemic period, 53,445 hospitalizations were recorded for this procedure. The average hospital stay increased compared to the previous year. The mortality rate recorded in the year before the pandemic was 0.11, while in the period of the pandemic, it was 0.20. CONCLUSION: It was observed that during the period of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazil, the number of hospitalizations for unilateral inguinal hernioplasty was reduced by 55,21%. However, there was a significant increase in the mortality rate of this procedure. These results can be explained by the increase in mortality in patients infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus, and also by the restriction of performing elective surgeries, prioritizing emergency situations, which are more complicated, and consequently, with higher mortality.