ResumoObjetivosestimar o custo por ano de vida ajustado por qualidade (QALY) com foco no tempo entre o trauma e a cirurgia.Métodosfoi feita uma coorte retrospectiva com amostra sistemática com todos os pacientes internados no hospital do estudo pelo Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) durante três anos. Compararam‐se duas estratégias de tratamento, uma precoce, se o paciente fosse operado até o quarto dia, e outra tardia, se após o quarto dia. O custo foi o direto médico do ponto de vista do SUS, colhido diretamente do Sistema de Gerenciamento da Tabela de Procedimentos, Medicamentos e Custos de Materiais de Implantes (OPM) do SUS (Sigtap), para contagem dos custos associados ao hospital, aos honorários médicos e aos implantes usados, e o desfecho utilidade foi medido indiretamente por meio do EuroQOL‐5D, instrumento mundialmente usado e transformado em utilidade pela normativa do Centro de Desenvolvimento e Planejamento Regional de Minas Gerais (Cedeplar) de 2013.Resultadosa amostra contou com 110 pacientes, 27 no grupo precoce e 83 no tardio. Variáveis confundidoras foram controladas, idade, gênero, risco anestésico (ASA) e tipo de fratura e de cirurgia. As amostras se revelaram homogêneas quanto a essas variáveis. O custo por QALY da estratégia precoce foi de R$ 5.129,42 e da estratégia tardia, de R$ 8.444,50.Conclusãoa estratégia precoce demonstra dominância em relação à tardia neste estudo.AbstractObjectivesto estimate the cost per quality‐adjusted life‐year (QALY) focusing on the length of time between trauma and surgery.Methodsa retrospective cohort with systematic sampling was conducted among all the patients who were admitted to the study hospital through the Brazilian National Health System (SUS) over a three‐year period. Two treatment strategies were compared: early treatment, if the patient was operated up to the fourth day; and late treatment, if this was done after the fourth day. The cost was the direct medical cost from the point of view of SUS, which was gathered from the management system, from the SUS table of procedures, medications and implant material costs (SIGTAP), to account for the costs associated with the hospital, medical fees and implants used. The outcome of usefulness was measured indirectly by means of EuroQOL‐5D, which is an instrument used worldwide, and these measurements were transformed into usefulness by means of the standard rules of the Regional Planning and Development Center of Minas Gerais (CEDEPLAR) of 2013.Resultsthe sample included 110 patients: 27 in the early group and 83 in the late group. The confounding variables of age, gender, anesthetic risk (ASA), fracture type and surgery type were controlled for. The samples were shown to be homogenous with regard to these variables. The cost per QALY of the early strategy was R$ 5,129.42 and the cost of the late strategy was R$ 8,444.50.Conclusionthe early strategy was highly favorable in relation to the late strategy in this study.