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The following is a summary of “Comparison of Postoperative Outcomes Among Patients Treated by Male Versus Female Surgeons: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis,” published in the December 2024 issue of Surgery by Saka et al.
Differences in surgical outcomes based on the gender of the surgeon remain unclear. Some studies suggest that gender may influence clinical outcomes, but conclusive evidence is lacking.
Researchers conducted a retrospective study to compare clinical outcomes for patients treated by female vs. male surgeons.
They performed a meta-analysis, searching MEDLINE, Embase, the Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), the International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP), and ClinicalTrials.gov (September 8, 2022), with an update on July 19, 2023. Random-effects models were used to analyze data, and the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development, and Evaluations (GRADE) system assessed the certainty of evidence.
The results showed that patients treated by female surgeons had lower postoperative mortality compared to those treated by male surgeons (8 studies; aOR, 0.93; 95% CI, 0.88–0.97; I2 =27%; moderate certainty of evidence). The difference was more significant in elective surgeries (test for subgroup difference P=0.003). No differences were found in readmission (3 studies; aOR, 1.20; 95% CI, 0.83–1.74; I2 =92%; very low certainty) or complication rates (8 studies; aOR, 0.94; 95% CI, 0.88–1.01; I2 =38%; very low certainty).
They concluded that patients treated by female surgeons had lower mortality rates than those treated by male surgeons.
