Treatment of complicated colorectal cancer. Evaluation of the outcome

A comparison of the outcome of 66 patients with complicated colorectal cancer (CRC) who underwent an emergency operation and 217 electively operated patients in an 11-year period was retrospectively determined. The complications presented on admission were obstruction (13.4%), perforation with peritonitis (6.36%), obstruction and perforation (1.4%) and massive bleeding (2.1%). The majority of the patients electively treated were of stages II and III (45.5% and 29%) and those urgently operated on were stages III and IV (67.7% and 14.1%) respectively. Radical resections were performed in 45 patients and palliative in 21. Only ten patients from the urgently treated are still alive and free of the disease. In conclusion, the treatment of complicated CRC carries a considerable incidence of complications, morbidity and mortality, and the overall 5-year survival rate is disappointing compared to electively treated patients.