Enhanced surgical management of complex anal fistulas via integrated traditional Chinese medicine: A retrospective cohort study

Table 1 Comparison of baseline characteristics, mean ± SD/%

Characteristic	Conventional treatment group (n = 62)	Optimized treatment group (n = 70)	Statistical value	P value
Age (years)	42.3 ± 8.4	42.7 ± 8.8	0.21	> 0.05
Gender (male/female)	47/13	46/14	0.12	> 0.05
Disease duration (months)	18.5 ± 5.6	18.2 ± 5.4	0.32	> 0.05
Fistula type (single/multiple)	20/40	22/38	0.24	> 0.05
Comorbidities (yes/no)	15/45	14/46	0.15	> 0.05
Average	7.2 ± 1.5	6.8 ± 1.4	0.36	> 0.05
Preoperative anal function score (Wexner score)	2.1 ± 0.6	2.0 ± 0.5	0.22	> 0.05
Postoperative complications rate	20	10	1.53	< 0.05
Postoperative hospital stays (days)	7.5 ± 2.0	6.0 ± 1.5	1.84	< 0.05
Postoperative anal function score (Wexner score)	3.5 ± 1.0	2.5 ± 0.8	1.71	< 0.05
Treatment satisfaction	75	85	1.62	< 0.05
Recurrence rate during follow-up	15	5	1.95	< 0.05