Obstructing Colorectal Carcinoma-Clinicopathological Studies

Between 1977 and 1988, 277 patients with 300 colorectal carcinomas were operated on, of whom 29 (10.5%) had a large bowel obstruction. The peak age of the time of obstruction was in the fifth decade. The duration of symptoms was short, and more than 50% had symptoms for less than one month. The site of greatest risk was the upper colon (cecum, ascending, transvers, descending). Only 6.1% of the sigmoidal and rectal tumors and 16.5% of other segments caused obstruction. The all over 5-year survival rate in this series was 29.5%. The rate was 49.6% for those who had a curative operation. None of those undergoing a non-curative or a palliative operations survived more than 2 years. The resectability of those obstructing carcinomas was 86.2%. Resection with immediate anastomosis was performed in 23 patients consisting 12 out of 13 patients with right colon and 11 out of 14 with left colon resection. Resection after colostomy was undertaken in only 4 patients.