Table 4.
Demographic and intervention variables for different age groups
| Age group (years) | Intervention (n = 681) |
Control (n = 663) |
P |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18–40 | n = 56 | n = 66 | |
| Sex | 1.000 | ||
| Male | 23 | 28 | |
| Female | 33 | 38 | |
| Primary operation | 51 (91.1) | 60 (90.9) | 1.000 |
| Reoperation | 5 (8.9) | 6 (9.1) | 1.000 |
| Co-morbidity | 14 (25.0) | 25 (37.9) | 0.184 |
| Cancer | 2 (3.6) | 1 (1.5) | 0.876 |
| Peritonitis | 8 (14.3) | 10 (15.2) | 1.000 |
| Ileus | 34 (60.7) | 28/65 (43.1) | 0.079 |
| Perforation | 9/54 (16.7) | 16 (24.2) | 0.431 |
| Bowel resection | 17 (30.4) | 12 (18.2) | 0.174 |
| Anastomosis | 13 (23.2) | 6 (9.1) | 0.058 |
| Stoma | 4 (7.1) | 6 (9.1) | 0.959 |
| Adhesions | 24 (42.9) | 19 (28.8) | 0.153 |
| Antibiotics | 52 (92.9) | 41/64 (64.1) | <0.001 |
| Epidural | 38 (67.9) | 40 (60.6) | 0.522 |
| Time from registration to the start of surgery (h), mean(s.d.), median (range) | 2.66(1.49), 2.47 (0.5–8.02) | 2.70(1.90), 2.46 (0.08–11.57) | 0.902 |
| 41–60 | n = 149 | n = 152 | |
| Sex | 0.607 | ||
| Male | 75 | 71 | |
| Female | 74 | 81 | |
| Primary operation | 133 (89.3) | 128 (84.2) | 0.262 |
| Reoperation | 16 (10.7) | 24 (15.8) | 0.262 |
| Co-morbidity | 64 (43.0) | 67 (44.1) | 0.936 |
| Cancer | 34 (22.8) | 29 (19.1) | 0.512 |
| Peritonitis | 31 (20.8) | 38 (25.0) | 0.467 |
| Ileus | 81/148 (54.7) | 88 (58.3) | 0.616 |
| Perforation | 46/148 (31.1) | 43 (28.3) | 0.687 |
| Bowel resection | 36 (24.2) | 43 (28.3) | 0.495 |
| Anastomosis | 21 (14.1) | 29 (19.1) | 0.314 |
| Stoma | 31 (20.8) | 23 (15.1) | 0.257 |
| Adhesions | 57 (38.3) | 67 (44.1) | 0.363 |
| Antibiotics | 140 (94.0) | 111/146 (76.0) | <0.001 |
| Epidural | 109 (73.2) | 109 (71.7) | 0.880 |
| Time from registration to the start of surgery (h), mean(s.d.), median (range) | 3.16(1.89), 2.78 (0.8–17.3) | 3.45(2.74), 2.65 (0.08–23.22) | 0.303 |
| 61–75 | n = 216 | n = 205 | |
| Sex | 0.883 | ||
| Male | 107 | 104 | |
| Female | 109 | 101 | |
| Primary operation | 180 (83.3) | 168 (82.0) | 0.806 |
| Reoperation | 36 (16.7) | 37 (18.0) | 0.806 |
| Co-morbidity | 107 (49.5) | 103 (50.2) | 0.962 |
| Cancer | 72 (33.3) | 79 (38.5) | 0.312 |
| Peritonitis | 62 (28.7) | 61 (29.8) | 0.896 |
| Ileus | 115/215 (53.5) | 119/204 (58.3) | 0.368 |
| Perforation | 82/214 (38.3) | 68 (33.2) | 0.319 |
| Bowel resection | 80 (37.0) | 85 (41.5) | 0.407 |
| Anastomosis | 33 (15.3) | 54 (26.3) | 0.006 |
| Stoma | 61 (28.2) | 54 (26.3) | 0.744 |
| Adhesions | 102 (47.4) | 112 (54.6) | 0.169 |
| Antibiotics | 205 (94.9) | 173/203 (85.2) | 0.001 |
| Epidural | 151 (69.9) | 138 (67.3) | 0.640 |
| Time from registration to the start of surgery (h), mean(s.d.), median (range) | 3.13(1.99), 2.63 (−0.52–13.05) | 4.03(4.50), 3.05 (0.17–54.12) | 0.003 |
| ≥76 | n = 260 | n = 240 | |
| Sex | 0.747 | ||
| Male | 112 | 99 | |
| Female | 148 | 141 | |
| Primary operation | 238 (91.5) | 216 (90.0) | 0.659 |
| Reoperation | 22 (8.5) | 24 (10.0) | 0.659 |
| Co-morbidity | 139 (53.5) | 135 (56.3) | 0.592 |
| Cancer | 91 (35.0) | 95 (39.6) | 0.334 |
| Peritonitis | 48 (18.5) | 65 (27.1) | 0.028 |
| Ileus | 174/258 (67.4) | 147/239 (61.5) | 0.198 |
| Perforation | 69/259 (26.6) | 76 (31.7) | 0.256 |
| Bowel resection | 106/259 (40.9) | 99 (41.3) | 1.000 |
| Anastomosis | 47/258 (18.2) | 60 (25.0) | 0.064 |
| Stoma | 69/258 (26.7) | 86 (35.8) | 0.036 |
| Adhesions | 131/258 (50.8) | 101 (42.1) | 0.064 |
| Antibiotics | 248 (95.4) | 199/231 (86.1) | <0.001 |
| Epidural | 186 (71.5) | 157 (65.4) | 0.169 |
| Time from registration to the start of surgery (h), mean(s.d.), median (range) | 3.45(2.03), 2.83 (0.65–16) | 4.12(2.79), 3.45 (0.5–25.55) | 0.004 |
Values are n (%) or n/n (%) unless otherwise indicated. For comparisons between groups, Fisher’s exact test (lowest one-sided P value multiplied by two) was used for dichotomous variables and the Mann–Whitney U test was used for continuous variables.