• Ilaria Caturegli, Ana Maria Pachano Bravo, Israa Abdellah, Moomtahina Fatima, Andrea Chao Bafford, Suci Ardini Widyaningsih, and Ons Kaabia.
• Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
• Ann. Surg. 2024 Jul 24.

ObjectiveTo examine the association between surgeon gender and early postoperative complications, including 30-day death and readmission, in elective surgery.BackgroundVariations between male and female surgeon practice patterns may be a source of bias and gender inequality in the surgical field, perhaps impacting quality of care. However, there are limited and conflicting studies regarding the association between surgeon gender and postoperative outcomes.MethodsMEDLINE and Embase were searched in October 2023 for observational studies including patients who underwent elective surgery requiring general or regional anesthesia across multiple surgical specialties. Multiple independent blinded reviewers oversaw the data selection, extraction, and quality assessment according to the PRISMA, MOOSE, and Newcastle Ottawa Scale guidelines. Data were pooled as odds ratios, using a generic inverse-variance random-effects model.ResultsOf 944 abstracts screened, 11 studies were included in this systematic review and meta-analysis. A total of 4,440,740 postoperative patients were assessed for a composite primary outcome of mortality, readmission, and other complications within 30 days of elective surgery, with a total of 325,712 (7.3%) surgeries performed by 7,072 (10.9%) female surgeons. There was no association between surgeon gender and the composite of mortality, readmission, and/or complications (odds ratio=0.97, 95% CI 0.95 to 1.00; I2=64.9%; P=0.001).ConclusionsThese results support that surgeon gender is not associated with early postoperative outcomes, including mortality, readmission, or other complications in elective surgery. These findings encourage patients, healthcare providers, and stakeholders not to consider surgeon gender as a risk factor for postoperative complications.Copyright © 2024 Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. All rights reserved.

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