Bariatric surgeries performed by the Brazilian National Health System in the period 2010-2016: a descriptive study of hospitalizations

Objective: to characterize Brazilian National Health System (SUS) hospitalizations for bariatric surgeries in Brazil, in the period 2010-2016. Methods: this was a descriptive study of time series using data from the SUS Hospital Information System (SIH/SUS); the target population consisted of patients aged 16 years and older. Results: there were 46,035 hospitalizations (6,576/year; 4.3/100,000 inhabitants/year); average age was 39.0 years old (SD:10.4); female sex predominated (85.4%), and the 35-39 age group accounted for 18.0% of cases; 16,923 patients (36.8%) needed to be admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU); there were 99 (0.2%) in-hospital deaths; the median hospital stay was 3 days, and the interquartile range was 2 days; average annual expense was R$ 39,410,919.37 and the average cost of hospitalization was R$ 5,992.75 (R$ 1,464.15/day). Conclusion: bariatric surgeries were characterized as procedures involving young female adults, frequent ICU use and low lethality.