Table 1. Baseline patient characteristics.
| Mean (SD) | |
| Age (years) | 69 (10) |
| Number (%) | |
| Gender Male:Female | 10 (83): 2 (17) |
| Currently smoking | 2 (17) |
| Past medical history | |
| Diabetes | 1 (8) |
| Ischaemic heart disease | 2 (17) |
| Heart failure & cerebrovascular disease | 0 |
| American Society of Anaesthesiologists (ASA) score | |
| 1 | 6 (50) |
| 2 | 6 (50) |
| World Health Organisation performance status | |
| 0 | 9 (75) |
| 1 | 3 (25) |
| Tumour distance from anal verge (cm) | |
| <5.0 cm | 6 (50) |
| 5.1–10.0 cm | 5 (42) |
| >10.1 cm | 1 (8) |
| International Union against Cancer Tumour Node Metastasis (TNM) MRI staging | |
| cT3 | 10 (83) |
| cT4 | 2 (17) |
| cN0 | 3 (33) |
| cN1 | 4 (17) |
| cN2 | 5 (50) |
| cM0 | 12 (100) |