Treatment groups Variable pre op post op p-value patients n=91 n=150   age* 56.5 ± 13 56.9 ± 15.8 p=0.8397 Sex distribution* 54 m/37 f 60 m /90 f p=0.0037 Hospital follow up time* 3.7 ± 2.1 weeks 3.0 ± 1.2 weeks p=0.2572 *given as mean ± SD

Table 1: Demographics of the two treatment groups; there is a statistical significant difference in sex distribution, but clinically this difference is negligible.