HUS performs record number neurosurgery operations in 2024

The number of operations in neurosurgery hit a record high at the hospitals in the Helsinki-Uusimaa Hospital District (HUS) in 2024, said HUS in a press release on Monday.

“Last year (2024), we performed more surgeries than ever in our history; a total of 3850 procedures. The number includes neurosurgery for children and intravenous procedures,” said Mika Niemelä, Head of neurosurgery at HUS Neurocenter.

HUS Neurosurgery has been able to significantly shorten their surgery waiting list. The number of ambulatory surgeries increased by 70%.

“We now treat 50% of cervical spine patients and 60% of our non-urgent lumbar spine patients in ambulatory surgery. The most significant factors that enabled us to shorten the waiting list were increasing the number of ambulatory surgeries, improved efficiency at the ward, and shorter treatment times,” said Niemelä.

Currently, there are only 13 patients who have waited for their surgery longer than the guaranteed treatment time, which is six months, compared to more than 600 in fall 2023.

In total, 346 patients are on the neurosurgery waiting list within the care guarantee, whereas in August 2023 there were 1350 of them.

“The waiting list situation has greatly improved, and we estimate that by March nobody has to wait longer than the guaranteed maximum waiting time,” said Niemelä.

The majority of the patients who have been on the waiting list for a long time need spinal fusion surgery.

Access to neurosurgery declined during the COVID-19 pandemic and at the turn of the year 2022–2023.

When the Bridge Hospital opened in early 2023, only three of the six operating rooms intended for neurosurgery were in use due to a nursing shortage.

Now all the six operating rooms in the Bridge Hospital are in full use. Surgeries also continue in Hospital Orton until April. Children's surgeries are performed in New Children's Hospital.