Comparisons of postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic versus open surgery using inverse probability of treatment weighting analysis: an evidence from Iran

Abstract Background Colorectal cancer has created a significant burden worldwide, including in Iran. Open and laparoscopic surgery are important treatment methods for this disease. The aim of this study is to compare postoperative outcomes of laparoscopic versus open surgery in Iran, with a particular emphasis on controlling confounding factors. Methods To control confounding factors in between-group comparisons of observational studies, a method based on propensity scores was used. The current study was conducted on 916 patients with colorectal cancer in the city of Shiraz between the years 2011 to 2022. The required data regarding treatment outcomes, type of surgery, demographic characteristics, and clinical factors related to cancer was extracted from the Colorectal Cancer Research Center of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences. To control confounding factors, we used the Inverse Probability of Treatment Weighting (IPTW) as one of the analytical approaches based on Propensity Score analysis. After IPTW analysis, univariate logistic regression was used for treatment effect estimation. Stata 17 was used for statistical analysis. Results After controlling for 24 clinical and demographic covariates, negative post-operative outcomes were significantly lower in laparoscopic than open surgery. There were significant differences between the two groups of surgery in the percentages of death due to cancer (P < 0.01), recurrence (P < 0.01), and metastasis (P < 0.05). The treatment effect univariate logistic regression analysis indicated that laparoscopic surgery reduced the risk of negative postoperative outcomes including death due to cancer (OR = 0.411, P < 0.01), recurrence (OR = 0.343, P < 0.01) and metastasis (OR = 0.611, P < 0.05) compared to open surgery. Conclusions In terms of postoperative outcomes including cancer-related mortality, recurrence, and metastasis, the laparoscopic surgery outperformed open surgery. Therefore, further development of laparoscopic surgery can lead to better health outcomes for the population and optimize the utilization of healthcare resources.