Table 2 Operative and postoperative outcomes in patients with LARC after NCRT

Operative time (min)

232.5 ± 81.2

225.8 ± 64.0

0.394

Estimated blood loss (ml)

77.7 ± 74.2

88.9 ± 105.5

0.372

Surgery approach (%)

0.882

 Laparoscopic

49 (65.3)

549 (66.5)

 Open

18 (24.0)

198 (23.9)

 Robotic

8 (10.7)

79 (9.6)

Postoperative hospital stay (days)

7.8 ± 3.4

8.8 ± 5.5

0.124

Postoperative complications (%)

12 (16.0)

122 (14.9)

0.736

30 days readmission (%)

1 (1.3)

5 (0.6)

0.407

Peri-CRT complications^a

25 (33.3)

259 (31.4)

0.699

 Major

1 (1.3)

23 (2.8)

0.741

Sphincter-saving procedure (%)

66 (88.0)

721 (87.4)

1.000

Pathological type (%)

0.936

 Ulcering

72 (96.0)

796 (96.7)

 Expanding

1 (1.3)

11 (1.2)

 Infiltrating

2 (2.7)

19 (2.1)

Histopathology (%)

0.008

 Adenocarcinoma

62 (82.7)

763 (92.4)

 Mucinous or signet ring cell carcinoma

13 (17.3)

63 (7.6)

Tumor differentiation (%)

< 0.001

 Well to moderately differentiated

57 (75.7)

752 (91.0)

 Poorly differentiated and others

18 (24.3)

74 (9.0)

Chemotherapy regimen (%)

0.461

 FOLFOX/CapeOX

33 (44.0)

326 (39.5)

 Capecitabine

42 (56.0)

500 (60.5)

Lymph nodes retrieved

19.3 ± 13.1

12.0 ± 6.2

< 0.001

Metastatic lymph nodes

2.2 ± 6.1

0.7 ± 2.0

< 0.001

CRM involvement (%)

1 (1.3)

10 (1.2)

1.000

Tumor size (cm)

0.069

  ≤ 1.8 cm

17(22.7)

212 (25.7)

 1.9–3.1 cm

31 (41.3)

416 (50.4)

  ≥ 3.2 cm

27 (36.0)

198 (24.0)

Pathological TNM stage (%)

0.957

 0

9 (12.0)

183 (22.2)

 I

14 (18.7)

205 (24.8)

 II

16 (21.3)

217 (26.3)

 III

31 (41.3)

179 (21.7)

 IV

5 (6.7)

42 (5.2)

TRG grade (%)

0.003

 0

9 (12.0)

183 (22.2)

 1

20 (26.7)

272 (32.9)

 2

33 (44.0)

313 (37.9)

 3

13 (17.3)

58 (7.0)

Perineural invasion (%)

13 (17.3)

54 (6.5)

0.002

Vascular invasion (%)

4 (5.3)

29 (3.5)

0.346

Adjuvant chemotherapy (%)

0.484

 Complete

44 (58.7)

427 (51.7)

 Decreased complete

9 (12.0)

87 (10.5)

 Refuse

2 (2.7)

44 (5.3)

 Unknown

20 (26.7)

268 (32.4)