Laparoscopic Rectal Surgery: Does Immediate Outcome Differ in Respect to Sex?

PURPOSE: This study analyzed the immediate postoperative outcome of the laparoscopic approach to the rectum in relation to the sex of the patient. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-nine patients were included in our study. The inclusion criterion was rectal cancer .05). We only observed a trend in relation to a longer duration of surgery in men. This was statistically significant in the low anterior resection subgroup (P = .02) and in the overall series (P = .002). Statistical analysis also showed that postoperative stay was longer in men after an anterior resection (P = .015). CONCLUSION: We believe that no important differences exist in perioperative outcomes between men and women after a laparoscopic approach to rectum cancer.