Weak grip, weak anastomosis? Handgrip strength and sarcopenia as predictors of anastomotic leakage after colorectal cancer surgery

Table 1 Comparison of baseline demographic and clinical characteristics between included and excluded patients, mean ± SD/n (%)

Variable	Included, n = 117	Excluded, n = 271	P value
Age in years	64.8 ± 12.9	66.1 ± 13.5	0.370
BMI (kg/m2)	26.7 ± 2.6	26.3 ± 2.8	0.175
ASA score	2.5 ± 0.7	2.6 ± 0.8	0.217
Female sex	44 (37.6)	108 (39.9)	0.762
Tumor location: Right/Left/rectum	42/20/55	96/44/131	0.964
Anastomotic leakage, 30-day	14 (12.0)	29 (10.7)	0.726

Excluded patients primarily lacked retrievable preoperative handgrip strength data. Continuous variables are presented as mean ± SD, and categorical variables as n (%) or n. Between-group comparisons were performed using Welch’s t-test for continuous variables and Pearson’s χ² test or Fisher’s exact test for categorical variables, as appropriate. BMI: Body mass index; ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists.