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 to be done correctly, you should see a female doctor, research suggests.

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

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

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

They suggested that male doctors were more likely to face disagreement from patients of both sexes when giving advice on weight loss, exercise and diet compared to female doctors.

The graph above shows how the risk of complications after surgery was eight percent higher for patients who had a male doctor within 90 days of surgery compared to those who had a female doctor. Within a year, the risk of complications was six percent higher

In an unrelated study, male doctors were also found to get the job done faster, showing that they had significantly shorter operating times for surgeries like gallbladder removal than their female counterparts.

The majority of American doctors are men: about 65 percent, and that proportion has risen steadily in recent decades.

The Canadian researchers found that female doctors were more likely to have younger patients with fewer risk factors than their male counterparts.

In the study, published Wednesday in JAMA surgerythe scientists looked at patients from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan, which covers surgeries in Ontario, Canada.

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

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

They were followed for up to one year to detect adverse events such as death, readmission, or complications of surgery, such as internal bleeding.

The researchers found that more than a million patients (90 percent) were seen by male doctors.

Sixty percent of the patients were women and had an average 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.

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

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

The analysis was adjusted for factors such as patient and physician gender, 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 probably because male surgeons were more likely to treat older patients who had more co-morbidities.

The data showed that the average age of patients treated by male physicians was 60 years and 20 percent had severe co-morbidities.

For the female surgeons, the average age of the 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 article: “While technical ability is associated with short-term surgical outcomes, other factors, including patient selection, may contribute significantly. more significantly to long-term surgical outcomes. patient results.

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

“We postulate that these differences, along with differences in practice, may contribute more significantly to long-term patient outcomes.”

The data showed that among the female doctors, the majority worked in general surgery and obstetrics and gynecology.

Among the male physicians, the majority were engaged in general surgery and orthopedic surgery.

Previous studies have also shown that male doctors tend to complete more work than their female counterparts.

TO study 2020 published by the New England Journal of Medicine found that female doctors received fewer visits than their male counterparts and generated less income.

He added that they also spent more time in direct patient care at every visit, every day, and over the course of a year.