STATISTICAL ANALYSIS
The study cohort was divided into two groups according to the TLE
approach (superior versus femoral bailout). All statistical tests were
2-sided, and a p-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.
Categorical variables are reported in frequencies and percentages. The
significance of categorical variables between groups was assessed using
the chi-square test or Fisher’s exact test, as appropriate We tested all
variables for normal distribution by the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test and by
visualizing the QQ-plot, plotting the distribution and variance of the
residuals. Normally distributed continuous variables were reported as
mean and standard deviation values, and differences between groups were
assessed using the student’s t-test. Continuous variables not normally
distributed were reported as median and interquartile range (IQR,
25th-75th percentiles) values, and significance was assessed using the
Mann-Whitney U test. Differences between groups were tested using the
Wilcoxon or Kruskal-Wallis tests. A multivariate logistic regression
model was constructed for prediction of need to switch over to a femoral
approach. The model consisted of variables that were statistically
significant in univariate tests and of clinically relevant indices.
Statistical analysis was performed using the SPSS statistical software
25.0.0 (IBM, Armonk, NY, USA), and the R foundation statistical
computing and graphics software (version 4.0.0).