Outcomes of Laparoscopic Distal Gastrectomy for Gastric Cancer by Female and Male Resident Surgeons

Overall, 417 patients were eligible, and 24 resident surgeons operated, 7 female (29%) and 17 male (71%). After PSM, 107 patients were extracted for each group. No significant differences were observed in patients' baseline. Operation time (225 vs. 221 min), intraoperative blood loss (10 vs. 14 g), and postoperative hospital stay (8 vs. 8 days) did not differ. The incidence of postoperative complications (all-grade) was 9% vs. 18%. The calculated risk ratio of the female surgeons was 0.53 (95% confidence intervals: 0.26-1.08) (p = 0.08), which upper limit was lower than the prespecified non-inferior margin (1.2), thus the non-inferiority was proved. We found no gender difference in clinical outcomes of LDG performed by resident surgeons. The results of this study help us understand the role of female surgeons and encourage women to apply for surgical positions in the future.