Peripheral artery disease: a comparison of urgent open and endovascular revascularizations on the public health system in Brazil, from 2010 to 2020

BACKGROUND: Peripheral artery disease (PAD) has high prevalence and is associated with high risk of cardiovascular events. Surgical or endovascular intervention is necessary in chronic limb-threatening ischemia. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the distribution of open and endovascular revascularizations in different regions of Brazil, analyzing the health system costs and mortality related to these procedures. METHODS: A descriptive, cross-sectional, observational, epidemiological study was carried out to evaluate open and endovascular surgeries performed on the SUS public healthcare system in Brazil, from 2010 to 2020. Data were collected from the SUS Department of Informatics (Datasus). RESULTS: Over the period analyzed, 83,218 admissions for open and endovascular surgeries were registered, with a total cost of R$ 333,989,523.17. There were more hospital admissions for percutaneous procedures (56,132) than for conventional surgery (27,086). Most of the procedures (83%) were performed in the country’s Southeast and South regions, while the North region had the lowest number of procedures. Over the period evaluated, there was a decreasing trend for open procedures and an increasing trend for endovascular procedures. The average hospital stay was shorter for endovascular procedures (5.3 days) than for open surgery (10.2 days). The analysis of mortality related to these procedures revealed a higher rate of in-hospital mortality associated with open revascularization than with endovascular (5.24% vs. 1.56%). CONCLUSIONS: Endovascular techniques constituted the primary approach for revascularization treatment in critical limb-threatening ischemia, with a lower in-hospital mortality rate and shorter hospital stay when compared to open surgeries.