Women 32% more likely to die after operation by male surgeon, study reveals

 

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/jan/04/women-more-likely-die-operation-male-surgeon-study

 

Denis Campbell Health policy editor
Tue 4 Jan 2022 09.00 EST 

Women who are operated on by a male surgeon are much more likely to die, experience complications and be readmitted to hospital than when a woman performs the procedure, research reveals.

Women are 15% more liable to suffer a bad outcome, and 32% more likely to die, when a man rather than a woman carries out the surgery, according to a study of 1.3 million patients.

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The findings have been published in the medical journal JAMA Surgery.

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“On a macro level the results are troubling. When a female surgeon operates, patient outcomes are generally better, particularly for women, even after adjusting for differences in chronic health status, age and other factors, when undergoing the same procedures.

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They found that men who had an operation had similar outcomes regardless of whether their surgeon was male or female (an exception being significantly decreased mortality for men, 13%, when the surgeon was female). However, women experienced better outcomes if the procedure had been performed by a female surgeon compared with a male surgeon. There were no gender differences in how surgery went for either men or women operated on by a female surgeon.

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