Demographic characteristics and preoperative, operative and pathology variables
| Variable | Group, no. (%)* | p value | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All patients | High-volume, colorectal | High-volume, no subspecialty training | Low-volume, no subspecialty training | ||
| Sex, male | 262 (61) | 81 (54) | 78 (61) | 103 (66) | 0.08 |
| Age, yr | 65 | 65 | 65 | 66 | 0.99 |
| Obstruction | 13 (3) | 6 (4) | 3 (2) | 4 (3) | 0.17 |
| Tumour Level | 0.41 | ||||
| Low | 94 (36) | 31 (32) | 30 (45) | 33 (33) | |
| Mid | 121 (46) | 45 (47) | 27 (41) | 49 (49) | |
| High | 46 (18) | 20 (21) | 9 (14) | 17 (17) | |
| Missing data | 172 | 54 | 62 | 56 | |
| Intraop perforation | 12 (3) | 6 (4) | 2 (2) | 4 (3) | 0.46 |
| Procedure | 0.008 | ||||
| LAR | 231 (53) | 98 (65) | 61 (48) | 72 (46) | |
| APR | 186 (43) | 49 (33) | 62 (48) | 75 (48) | |
| Hartmann | 16 (4) | 3 (2) | 5 (4) | 8 (5) | |
| Missing data, no. | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Stage | 0.26 | ||||
| 1 | 113 (26) | 34 (23) | 32 (25) | 47 (30) | |
| 2 | 197 (46) | 78 (52) | 57 (45) | 62 (40) | |
| 3 | 122 (28) | 37 (25) | 39 (30) | 46 (30) | |
| Missing data, no. | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | |
| Grade | 0.30 | ||||
| 1 | 35 (9) | 14 (10) | 12 (10) | 9 (6) | |
| 2 | 346 (84) | 121 (86) | 100 (81) | 125 (84) | |
| 3 | 31 (8) | 6 (4) | 11 (9) | 14 (9) | |
| Missing data, no. | 21 | 9 | 5 | 7 | |
| Blood transfusion | 162 (37) | 41 (27) | 52 (41) | 69 (45) | 0.006 |
| Missing data, no. | 105 | 28 | 30 | 47 | |
| LVI/PNI | 69 (16) | 27 (18) | 17 (13) | 25 (16) | 0.56 |
| Missing data | 73 | 18 | 21 | 34 | |
| Size (mean), cm | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.1 | 3.2 | 0.70 |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Distal margin ≤ 2 cm | 97 (26) | 34 (26) | 26 (25) | 37 (27) | 0.94 |
| Missing data | 19 | 7 | 7 | 5 | |
| Radial margin, ≤ 1 mm | 56 (16) | 18 (15) | 21 (20) | 17 (13) | 0.35 |
| Missing data | 75 | 28 | 22 | 25 | |
| Neoadj/Adj therapy | 262 (61) | 93 (62) | 81 (63) | 88 (57) | 0.48 |
| Preop long course RT | 158 (60) | 55 (59) | 57 (70) | 46 (52) | 0.002 |
| Preop short course RT | 17 (6) | 12 (13) | 2 (3) | 3 (3) | |
| Postop RT | 87 (33) | 26 (28) | 22 (27) | 39 (44) | |
| Missing data | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
Adj = adjuvant; APR = abdominoperineal resection; DSS = disease-specific survival; intraop = intraoperative; LAR = lower anterior resection; LR = local recurrence; LVI = lymphovascular space invasion; neoadj = neoadjuvant; PNI = perineural invasion, postop = postoperative; preop = preoperative; RT = radiotherapy.
↵* Unless otherwise indicated.