Effect of surgeon-patient sex discordance on ventral hernia repair outcomes

Concordance is an important dimension of the physician-patient relationship that may be linked to health care disparities. The purpose of this study was to determine if sex discordance between surgeon and patient impacts surgical outcomes.

A retrospective review of prospectively collected data obtained from the Abdominal Core Health Quality Collaborative (ACHQC) registry was performed on all patients who underwent ventral hernia repair. Surgical site occurrences (SSO), surgical site infections (SSI), surgical site occurrence requiring procedural intervention (SSOPI) and 30-day readmission rates were recorded.

Female patients operated on by male surgeons have increased odds of having an SSI/SSO (OR 1.099, 95% CI 1.022–1.181), SSOPI (OR 1.156, 95% CI 1.031–1.297), and readmission (OR 1.259, 95% CI 1.128–1.406) when compared to male patients operated on by male surgeons. There was no significant difference in adverse outcomes between patient groups when operated on by female surgeons.

Sex discordance between surgeon and patient is associated with increased odds adverse outcomes when male surgeons operate on female patients.