When it comes to removing a gallbladder or doing a coronary artery bypass surgery, it’s better to prioritize precision over speed. However, female surgeons seem more inclined to take their time than their male colleagues. This is one of the reasons that would explain why their patients are less likely to have complications after an operation. A study published Wednesday in the American journal Jama (Journal of the American Medical Association) shows that people operated on by a woman experience fewer complications after their surgery.
To reach this conclusion, the researchers analyzed the medical data of 1.1 million patients who underwent surgery in Ontario, Canada between 2007 and 2019. Among this sample, 151,054 patients had to deal with a surgeon and 1,014,657 to a surgeon. One year after the operation, a quarter of people operated on by a man experienced complications compared to about a fifth (20.7%) of people operated on by a woman. These complications can be minor or much more serious such as heart attacks or strokes.
Fewer postoperative deaths
At 90 days of the operation, the difference is less glaring, with 13.9% of complications for people operated by surgeons against 12.5% for those operated by female surgeons. With all of these data, the study concludes that “patients treated by female surgeons have lower rates of negative postoperative outcomes, including death, at 90 days and one year after surgery, compared to those treated by male surgeons.
A second study examines the reasons for this gap. Based on the operations of 150,509 patients operated between 2006 and 2019 in Sweden, it also shows that complications are more frequent when a man operates. Focused on the removal of the gallbladder, this study proves that complications during surgery rise to 4.3% when it is conducted by a surgeon against 3.3% when it is a surgeon.
Eight sometimes vital minutes
The researchers believe that these differences come in particular from the precaution of the female surgeons who operate more slowly than their male colleagues. A difference of almost 8 minutes on average which seems decisive for the health of patients. Because a patient operated by a surgeon has 25% less chance of dying one year after surgery than if he was operated on by a surgeon, concludes the Swedish study.
Asked by The Guardian, Dr. My Blohm also explains this difference by risk-taking, while adding that other studies will have to confirm this. “As a surgeon, I think these data should prompt me and my colleagues to think about the causes of this situation,” said Christopher Wallis, who led the first study.