Pre-operative hypoalbuminemia is a major risk factor for postoperative complications following rectal cancer surgery

Table 1 Demographic data on non-hypoalbuminemic and hypoalbuminemic patients

	Non-hypoalbuminemic	Hypoalbuminemic	P value
	(n = 188)	(n = 56)
Age (yr)	61.4 ± 11.9	64.5 ± 13.5	0.100
Male	111 (59)	28 (50)	0.230
BMI (kg/m2)	23.2 ± 3.8	21.9 ± 3.4a	0.021
Tumor size (cm)	4.3 ± 1.7	5.5 ± 2.3b	< 0.001
TNM stage			0.310
I	48 (26)	8 (14)
II	43 (23)	14 (25)
III	94 (50)	34 (61)
IV	3 (1)	0 (0)
Type of anesthesia			0.860
GA alone	73 (39)	21 (38)
GA + EB	115 (61)	35 (62)

GA: General anesthesia; EB: Epidural block. Values were given as number (percentage) or mean ± SD.

^aP≤ 0.05,

^bP≤ 0.01 vs Non-hypoalbuminemic.