Efficacy of staple line reinforcement by barbed suture for preventing anastomotic leakage in laparoscopic rectal cancer surgery

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients (n = 319)

Variables	Reinforcing sutures		P value
	Yes, n = 168	No, n = 151
Age (yr)	61.8 ± 8.7	63.0 ± 9.7	0.229
Men/Women	80/88	73/78	0.897
BMI (kg/m2)	23.2 ± 3.6	22.8 ± 3.8	0.378
ASA score, n (%)			0.948
1	60 (35.7)	54 (35.8)
2	67 (39.9)	61 (40.4)
3	41 (24.4)	36 (23.8)
Tumor diameter (cm)	4.4 ± 1.7	4.1 ± 1.8	0.178
Tumor site (from anal verge, cm), n (%)			0.641
≥ 5	123 (73.2)	114(75.5)
< 5	45 (26.8)	37(24.5)
Depth of tumor invasion, n (%)			0.295
T1-T2	33 (19.6)	37 (24.5)
T3-T4	135 (80.4)	114 (75.5)
Lymph node metastases, n (%)			0.493
Yes	77 (45.8)	75 (49.7)
No	91 (54.2)	76 (50.3)
Diabetes mellitus, n (%)	31 (18.5)	22 (14.6)	0.352
Hypertension, n (%)	37 (22.0)	25 (16.6)	0.218
Heart disease, n (%)	18 (10.7)	11 (7.3)	0.287
COPD, n (%)	9 (5.4)	7 (4.6)	0.768
Previous abdominal surgery, n (%)	17 (10.1)	14 (9.3)	0.799
Preoperative CEA (ng/mL), n (%)			0.430
≥ 5	57 (33.9)	45 (29.8)
< 5	111 (66.1)	106 (70.2)
Preoperative hemoglobin levels (g/L), n (%)			0.239
≥ 90	138 (82.1)	116 (76.8)
< 90	30 (17.9)	35 (23.2)
Preoperative serum albumin level (g/L), n (%)			0.301
≥ 35	139 (82.7)	118 (78.1)
< 35	29 (17.3)	33 (21.9)
Preoperative serum CRP level (mg/L), n (%)			0.375
≥ 10	28 (16.7)	28 (20.5)
< 10	140 (83.3)	123 (79.5)

BMI: Body mass index; ASA: American society of anesthesiologists; COPD: Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; CEA: Carcinoma embryonic antigen; CPR: C-reactive protein.