Minimally invasive rectal cancer surgery after neoadjuvant therapy in selected elderly and frail patients: A single-center real-world experience

Table 2 Intraoperative characteristics stratified by age group, n (%)/mean ± SD

Variable	Age ≥ 80 years (n = 23)	Age < 80 years (n = 119)	P value
Tumor distance (cm)	7.6 ± 3.0	8.7 ± 3.6	0.30
Tumor location
Low	7 (30.4)	24 (20.2)	0.40
Middle	13 (56.5)	65 (54.6)	0.95
High	3 (13.0)	30 (25.2)	0.20
Lymph nodes harvested, median (range)	23 (11-38)	17 (3-40)	0.01
R0 resection	21/22 (95.5)	115/119 (96.6)	0.85
Type of surgery
Low anterior resection	16 (69.6)	109 (91.6)	0.02
Abdominoperineal resection	6 (26.1)	9 (7.6)	0.02
Hartmann	1 (4.3)	1 (0.8)	-
Surgical approach
Robotic	19 (82.6)	104 (87.4)	0.60
Laparoscopic	4 (17.4)	15 (12.6)	0.60
Stoma
Ileostomy	3 (13.0)	88 (73.9)	< 0.001
Colostomy	20 (87.0)	20 (16.8)	< 0.001
Operative time (minutes)	366 ± 109	408 ± 127	0.15
Blood transfusion	3 (13.0)	1 (0.8)	0.10
Conversion	1 (4.3)	8 (6.7)	0.45
Pelvic drain	22 (95.7)	118 (99.2)	0.80
Mesorectal excision
TME	22 (95.7)	111 (93.3)	0.70
PME	1 (4.3)	8 (6.7)	0.70

TME: Total mesorectal excision; PME: Partial mesorectal excision.