Introduction:

The study objective was to determine the most frequently surgical procedures at the Naval Medical Center, a third level medical center.

Material and methods:

An observational, exploratory, descriptive, cross-sectional and retrospective study was conducted including all surgeries performed from January 1, 2015 to July 31, 2019, reviewing the surgical records and patient electronic files.

Results:

25,114 surgeries were registered, with an annual average of 5,527 procedures and 16 daily procedures (range from 2 to 25). General surgery, orthopedics, gynecoobstetrics and ophthalmology were the specialties with the most amount of surgeries. The main surgeries were cataract phacoemulsification with intraocular lens placement, endoscopies, caesarean sections, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, labor delivery, open reduction with internal fracture fixation, open appendectomy, inguinal hernioplasty and surgical washes. 59% of the surgeries were performed in women. The age range of the patients was from newborn to 101 years, with most patients between 53 and 72 years.

Conclusions:

The naval medical center spend surgical resources for obstetric care (caesarean section and labor), care of chronic degenerative diseases (cataract surgery, and endoscopy), accident care (fracture reduction and surgical washes) and the resolution of acute abdominal conditions such as appendicitis and cholecystitis.