OBJECTIVES: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OBESITY AND CHRONIC DISEASES SUCH AS DIABETES AND THEIR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPACT FOR THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM IS WELL KNOWN. METABOLIC SURGERY CAN BE AN OPTION FOR THE TREATMENT OF DM2 NOT CONTROLLED BY CLINICAL TREATMENT IN BMI FROM 30KG/M². IN 2017, THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF MEDICINE RECOGNIZES METABOLIC SURGERY AS A THERAPEUTIC OPTION FOR PATIENTS WITH BMI BETWEEN 30 AND 34.9KG/M², WITH SPECIFIC REQUIREMENTS. GLOBALLY THERE IS A SPECIFIC DISCUSSION ON THE DIFFICULTY OF ESTIMATING PATIENT PREVALENCE WITH METABOLIC SURGERY INDICATION. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS WORK IS TO ESTIMATE THE PREVALENCE OF THE BRAZILIAN POPULATION WITH INDICATION FOR THE METABOLIC SURGERY, IN ACCORDANCE WITH RESOLUTION No. 2,172/17 OF THE FEDERAL COUNCIL OF MEDICINE.

METHODS: USING VIGITEL (2013) BASIS, PATIENTS WITH BMI BETWEEN 30 AND 34.9KG/M² OF ALL 27 BRAZILIAN PRINCIPAL CITIES WERE IDENTIFIED. THEN THE INDIVIDUALS WHO REPORTED "YES" TO THE FOLLOWING COMORBITIES WERE SELECTED: DIABETES, HYPERTENSION AND DISLIPIDEMIA. AT THE SAME TIME, THE POPULATION, BY STATE, ABOVE 30 YEARS WAS COLLECTED ON IBGE DATABASE (2012). FROM THE DATA OF THE TWO BASES, THE PERCENTAGE OF THE POPULATION WITH BMI BETWEEN 30 AND 34.9 KG / M² WITH THE THREE COMORBITIES BY STATE WAS EXTRAPOLATED. USING THE POPULATION DATA PROVIDED BY REGULATORY AGENCY ANS, THE SAME EXTRAPOLATION WAS MADE FOR THE POPULATION OF THE PRIVATE SYSTEM.

RESULTS: CONSIDERING THE TOTAL POPULATION OF BRAZIL, IT IS ESTIMATED THAT 691,908 PEOPLE ARE ELIGIBLE FOR METABOLIC SURGERY, OF WHICH 540,850 (78%) PEOPLE DEPEND TOTALLY ON THE PUBLIC HEALTH SYSTEM AND 151,058 (22%) HAVE ACCESS TO THE PRIVATE HEALTH SYSTEM.

CONCLUSIONS: ESTIMATING THE POPULATION ELIGIBLE FOR METABOLIC SURGERY IS A GLOBAL CHALLENGE. THE ESTIMATION PRESENTED IN THIS STUDY IS UNIQUE AND SEEKS TO BRING RELEVANT GUIDELINES ON METABOLIC SURGERY IN BRAZIL TO PHYSICIANS AND DECISION MAKERS IN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM.