Cataract surgery was the most commonly performed medical procedure among South Koreans last year. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 17 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Health Insurance Service reported on December 16 that cataract surgery was the most commonly performed medical procedure among South Koreans last year.
According to the “2023 Major Surgery Statistical Yearbook,” 1.66 million patients underwent close to 2 million procedures across 34 major surgical categories. These figures represent a decrease of 0.8% in patient numbers and 3.5% in total procedures compared to 2022.
Cataract surgery led the list with 638,000 procedures performed on 432,000 patients. This was followed by general spinal surgery with 207,000 procedures (195,000 patients) and hemorrhoid surgery with 152,000 procedures (150,000 patients).
Per 100,000 population, there were 3,768 surgical procedures overall. Cataract operations again topped this list at 1,204 procedures, followed by cesarean sections at 555 and general spinal surgeries at 390.
Total medical costs for major surgeries reached 8.44 trillion won, a 4.4% increase from 2022. General spinal surgery accounted for the highest costs at 1.02 trillion won, followed by knee replacement surgery at 839.7 billion won and cataract procedures at 823.4 billion won.
The average cost per procedure rose 8.2% to 4.23 million won. Heart surgery commanded the highest per-procedure cost at 36.83 million won, followed by coronary artery bypass at 35.25 million won and stem cell transplantation at 23.23 million won. At the other end of the scale, hemorrhoid surgery cost 1.19 million won, cataract procedures 1.29 million won, and varicose vein ligation and removal 1.45 million won.
By age group, patients in their 60s represented the largest share with 390,302 procedures, followed by those in their 70s (361,315) and 50s (232,521). The most common procedures varied by age group: tonsillectomy for children under 9, appendectomy for teenagers, cesarean sections for those in their 20s and 30s, hemorrhoid surgery for those in their 40s, and cataract surgery for those 50 and older.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
