Permanence, cost and mortality related to surgical admissions by the Unified Health System*

OBJECTIVE: to analyze the time trend of surgical admissions by the Unified Health System according to hospital stay, costs and mortality by subgroups of surgical procedures in Brazil. METHOD: ecological study of time series. The variables surgical hospitalization, permanence, cost and mortality were obtained from the Department of Informatics of the Unified Health System. The trend analysis used the polynomial regression model. RESULTS: in nine years, 37,565,785 surgical admissions were recorded. The mean duration of surgical admissions was constant (p = 0.449); the mean stay (3.8 days) was decreasing and significant (p <0.01); the mean cost (389.16 dollars) and mortality (1.63%) were increasing and significant (p <0.01). In subgroups of eye, thoracic, oncological and other surgeries, the temporal evolution of surgeries was increasing and significant (p <0.05). In contrast, endocrine glands, digestive tract, genitourinary, breast, reconstruction and buco-maxillofacial surgeries showed a significant trend of decline (p <0.05). In the other subgroups, the trend was constant. CONCLUSION: evidence shows the trend of surgical admissions in the last decade in the country and provide subsidies for the efficient elaboration of public policies, planning and management towards universal coverage in surgical care.