Epidemiology and Estimated Cost of Microsurgical Treatment of Peripheral Nerve Tumor Conducted by the Brazilian Unified Health Care System (2008–2016)
Arq. bras. neurocir; 38 (2), 2019
Publication year: 2019
Introduction Primary nerve tumors correspond to 5% of the soft tissue neoplasms
affecting the upper limbs, with benign lesions being more frequent than malignant
lesions.
Objective To describe the epidemiological data of the microsurgical treatment of
peripheral nerve tumors performed by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS, in the
Portuguese acronym), with the code 0403020131, from 2008 to 2016, regarding the
number of annual procedures, hospital and professional expenses, the average
duration of hospital stay, and the number of deaths.
Methods This is a descriptive epidemiological study whose data were obtained by
consulting the database provided by the Health Informatics Department of the
Brazilian Ministry of Health (DATASUS, in the Portuguese acronym).
Results/Discussion A total of 6,012 procedures were performed during the period
studied, with an average of 688 procedures per year. The average hospital stay was of
2.13 days. There was nomortality rate. The average annual cost of the professional was
BRL 50,091.45; and the average hospital expenses were BRL111,887.94.
Conclusion The microsurgical treatment of peripheral nerve tumors is a safe surgical
procedure with zero mortality rate and short hospital stay. There was no national data
on tumors of this nature in the medical literature.