The Number of Surgeries in Bulgaria is Growing

Despite the population decline, the number of surgeries in Bulgaria is increasing. And not all medical establishments in which they are implemented meet the requirements for a minimum volume of activity. This shows the analyzes of the Hospital Index on three major surgical activities in the country - neurosurgery, cardiac surgery and orthopedics. The figures are for 2018 and reflect the funded treatment cases by the NHIF.

NEUROSURGERY

The number of surgeries in the field of neurosurgery in Bulgaria has increased with 1176 for a year, according to data from the Hospital Index. A total of 14,015 interventions were performed in 115 medical establishments last year against 12,839 in 116 clinics in the previous year. These include operations on the six major clinical pathways in this area - head trauma, oncology, diseases in vertebral problems, as well as cranial-brain nerves. Together with the conservative treatment of patients, the incidence of treatment in hospitals reached 28,086 or 1,603 more. Those who had recurrent treatment last year were 1839 or the rehospitalization rate was 6.5.

In spite of the high number of hospitals with contract neurosurgical wards, very few of them perform high-tech operations on the head - only at 12. They are concentrated in Sofia, Plovdiv, Varna, Pleven and Panagyurishte. Large spinal surgery is also done in a few places - 26.

The main part of the activities of the other medical institutions is focused on the conservative treatment of head injuries and interventions for cranial nerve problems. Despite medical standards, the number of operations performed on different clinical pathways in hospitals varies from 1 to over 1000.

ORTHOPEDICS

Over the years orthopedic surgeries have also increased....