Cataract Surgeries Decreased by 13% but Remained Highest at 638,000 Cases Last Year

NHIS Publishes 2023 Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook
Most Frequent Surgeries Are Cataract-Cesarean Section-General Spine
Total Surgery Medical Expenses 8.4 Trillion Won...Cardiac Surgery Is the Most Expensive

Last year, the most common major surgeries received by our citizens were cataract surgery and cesarean section. Although the number of cataract surgeries has been steadily decreasing over the past three years, it still accounted for the highest number of surgeries.

According to the "2023 Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook" published by the National Health Insurance Service on the 16th, the number of surgeries per 100,000 people for 34 major surgeries in South Korea last year was 3,768, a 3.5% decrease from 3,906 the previous year. The most frequent surgeries per 100,000 people were cataract surgery with 1,204 cases, cesarean section with 555 cases, and general spinal surgery with 390 cases.

The total number of 34 major surgeries nationwide was 1,996,000 cases, down 3.5% from 2,068,000 cases in 2022. Although cataract surgeries decreased by 13.3% (98,000 cases) compared to the previous year, they remained the most frequent at 638,000 cases, followed by general spinal surgery with 207,000 cases and hemorrhoid surgery with 152,000 cases.

The medical expenses for the 34 major surgeries increased by 4.4% from the previous year to 8.4404 trillion KRW. The surgeries with the highest medical expenses were general spinal surgery at 1.0157 trillion KRW, knee joint replacement surgery at 839.7 billion KRW, and cataract surgery at 823.4 billion KRW.

The average medical expense per major surgery was 4.23 million KRW, an 8.2% increase from the previous year. The surgeries with the highest cost per case were heart surgery at 36.83 million KRW, coronary artery bypass surgery at 35.25 million KRW, and stem cell transplantation at 23.23 million KRW. Conversely, surgeries with the lowest cost per case were hemorrhoid surgery at 1.19 million KRW, cataract surgery at 1.29 million KRW, and varicose vein ligation and removal surgery at 1.45 million KRW.

The average hospital stay per major surgery was 5.6 days, a 5.4% increase from the previous year. Surgeries with the longest hospital stays included stem cell transplantation at 20.3 days, knee joint replacement surgery at 19.5 days, and hip joint replacement surgery at 17.5 days. Surgeries with the shortest hospital stays were cataract surgery at 1.1 days, varicose vein ligation and removal surgery at 2.1 days, and hemorrhoid surgery at 2.3 days.

Among the 34 major surgeries, the largest number of patients were in their 60s with 390,302 cases, followed by those in their 70s with 361,315 cases, and those in their 50s with 232,521 cases. By age group, tonsillectomy was most common for children under 9, appendectomy for teenagers, cesarean section for those in their 20s and 30s, hemorrhoid surgery for those in their 40s, and cataract surgery was most frequent from the 50s onward.

Of the total 1,996,000 surgeries, 685,000 cases (34.3%) were performed at clinics, 479,000 cases (24.0%) at general hospitals, 430,000 cases (21.5%) at tertiary hospitals, and 402,000 cases (20.2%) at hospitals.

The Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook, published by the National Health Insurance Service for the 18th consecutive year, includes statistics on surgery status by age, gender, region, and type of medical institution, rankings of frequent surgical diseases, outpatient and laparoscopic surgeries, and is available for viewing on the Service’s website starting today.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.