Most Common Surgeries Among Koreans? ... Cataract, General Spine, and Hemorrhoid Surgeries in Order

NHIS Publishes 2021 Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook
497,000 People Underwent Cataract Surgery Last Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Jo In-kyung] Last year, the surgery most frequently received by our citizens was cataract surgery. The medical expenses for 33 major surgeries increased by an average of 10.2% annually over five years, reaching 7.8 trillion KRW last year.

According to the '2021 Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook' published by the National Health Insurance Service on the 3rd, a total of 1,681,540 patients underwent 33 major surgeries (excluding non-reimbursable procedures such as cosmetic plastic surgery) in South Korea last year, with 2,097,494 surgeries performed.

The number of major surgery patients and surgeries, which were 1,551,822 and 2.1 million respectively in 2017, increased annually by 2.0% and 3.3% on average over five years.

The surgery with the highest number of patients last year was cataract surgery, with 496,574 patients. This corresponds to 938.2 patients per 100,000 population, and when counting cases where one person had surgery on both eyes, a total of 781,220 surgeries were performed.

Following cataract surgery, the surgeries with the most patients were general spinal surgery with 189,995 patients and hemorrhoid surgery with 158,237 patients.

Among frequently performed surgeries, the one with the greatest increase in the number of cases over the past five years was partial mastectomy, which rose from 26,158 cases in 2017 to 41,881 cases in 2021, an average annual increase of 12.5%.

Cataract surgeries also increased by 9.2% annually, and thyroid surgeries, which had temporarily decreased amid overdiagnosis controversies, have grown again by an average of 6.7% annually since 2017. Conversely, endoscopic sinus surgeries decreased by 13.4% annually, and surgeries such as hemorrhoidectomy and appendectomy also declined by 5.3% and 2.7% respectively over five years.

By age group, hernia surgeries (inguinal and femoral hernias) were most common among children under 9 years old; appendectomy was most frequent in teenagers; cesarean section was most common in people in their 20s and 30s. Hemorrhoid surgery was most frequent in the 40s, and cataract surgery was common from the 50s and older.

Meanwhile, the total medical expenses for major surgeries amounted to 7.8 trillion KRW last year, increasing by an average of 10.2% annually since 2017. The surgery with the highest total medical cost was general spinal surgery at 987.7 billion KRW, and surgeries with the highest cost per case included coronary artery bypass surgery (34.41 million KRW), heart surgery (34.36 million KRW), and skull base surgery (20.35 million KRW).