If you want surgery done properly, make sure it’s done by a woman – you’re less likely to suffer complications

If you want your surgery done right, you should go to a female doctor, research suggests.

Researchers in Canada found that male and female patients treated by female surgeons for fractures, hip replacements and heart disease were nearly 10 percent less likely to experience complications such as internal bleeding or infections within 90 days of surgery, compared with patients treated by a man. seen.

They were also six percent less likely to be hospitalized up to a year later with complications related to the surgery.

But male doctors get the job done faster, with a separate study showing they had significantly shorter operating times for surgeries like gallbladder removal than their female counterparts.

The majority of American physicians are male: about 65 percent.

In the study, which involved nearly 1.2 million patients, doctors suggested the gap was due to differences in how patients responded to advice from male and female doctors.

They suggested that male physicians were more likely to encounter disagreements from patients of both sexes when giving advice on weight loss, exercise and nutrition than female physicians.

It is known that at least 150 minutes of exercise per week, maintaining a healthy weight and eating a healthy diet promote a patient’s health.

However, the researchers also noted that female physicians were more likely to have younger patients with fewer risk factors than their male counterparts.

In the study, published today in JAMA operationscientists looked at patients in the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, which covers surgeries in Ontario, Canada.

They collected data on 1.16 million patients who underwent surgery in the province between 2007 and 2019.

All were admitted for one of 25 common elective or emergency surgeries, such as for fractures, coronary artery surgery, or hip replacement.

They were followed for up to a year for side effects such as death, readmission or complications from surgery, such as internal bleeding.

More than a million of the patients — 90 percent — were seen by male doctors, the researchers found.

Sixty percent of the patients were female and had a mean age of 59 years.

Overall, the study found that 14.3 percent of patients had one or more complications within 90 days of surgery.

A quarter had had a complication a year later.

Two percent of patients also died within 90 days of surgery and four percent died within a year.

Of the patients who had a male surgeon, the researchers found that 146,000 (14.5 percent) had a complication within 90 days of surgery, while 261,000 (25.8 percent) had one within a year.

But of those who had a female surgeon, a total of 19,000 (12.6 percent) developed a complication within three months. After a year had passed, 29,000 (19 percent) had a medical problem related to their surgery a year later.

The analysis was adjusted for factors such as patient and physician sex, age, year of surgery, and socioeconomic status.

They also found that patients were up to 25 percent more likely to die within a year if they had a male doctor, compared to a female doctor.

But they suggested this was likely because male surgeons were more likely to treat older patients who had more comorbidities.

Data showed that the average age of patients treated by male physicians was 60 years, and 20 percent had serious comorbidities.

Among female surgeons, the mean age of patients was 52 years and 17 percent had serious comorbidities.

The scientists, led by Dr Christopher Wallis, a urologist at the University of Toronto, wrote in the paper: ‘While technical skills are associated with short-term surgical outcomes, other factors, including patient selection, may contribute more meaningfully to longer-term outcomes. term operations. long-term patient outcomes.

“Previous work has reported differences in communication, practice style, and the doctor-patient relationship between female and male physicians.

“We hypothesize that these differences, along with differences in practice, may make a more meaningful contribution to longer-term patient outcomes.”

Data showed that the majority of female physicians worked in general surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology.

In comparison, among male physicians, the majority were employed in general surgery and orthopedic surgery.

Previous studies have also shown that male physicians typically do more work than their female counterparts.

a 2020 study A New England Journal of Medicine publication found that female physicians received fewer visits than male counterparts and generated less revenue.

It added that they also spent more time on direct patient care at each visit, each day and over the course of a year.