Female surgeons spend more time in operating theatres and their patients experience fewer postoperative complications, according to the Wall Street Journal.
That is the conclusion of two research studies published this week in JAMA Surgery, the Journal of the American Medical Association).Researchers found better outcomes for patients treated by female surgeons in reviews of millions of procedures in Canada and Sweden.
In the first study, 17 researchers in the U.S. and Canada followed the outcomes for 1.2 million patients in Canada undergoing common surgeries between 2007 and 2020.
The authors found that at both 90 days and one year following surgery, patients treated by female surgeons were less likely to experience adverse postoperative issues, including death. The differences were modest, but consistent.
The study also found that when male surgeons treat female patients, outcomes are slightly worse.
The differences aren’t about technical skill, but about listening to patients and choosing appropriate care. Female physicians communicate and engage with patients differently.
Patients treated by male surgeons had postoperative complications about 14% of the time 90 days post-surgery. It was 12.5% of the time for female surgeons. At one year post-surgery, male-treated patients had adverse postoperative events 25% of the time against 20% of the time for female-treated patients.
Male surgeons spent a mean of eight minutes less per operation compared with women, even after matching similar patients, surgeries and hospitals. Complications occurred nearly 30% more often for male surgeons.
Dr. Sharon Stein, past president of the Association of Women Surgeons, said: ‘The norm for surgery has been for a long time that you’re a man. It’s a profession that’s very hierarchical and changing slowly’.
[Image: Mehmet Turgut Kirkgoz from Pixabay]