[Electrocoagulation in cancer of the rectum]

Twenty-six patients were treated by electrocoagulation of rectal adenocarcinoma between 1975 and 1985 at Santa Cruz y San Pablo Hospital, out of a total of 410 patients operated on for cancer, that is, 6.34% of the total number of cases. Eight cases were excluded from this review because of insufficient data. Indications for electrocoagulation were as follows: contraindication of radical surgery due to a severe underlying disease or old age, patient refusal to undergo surgery or colostomy, as a palliative measure in extremely advanced neoplastic disease, and lastly, in cases where local excision was contraindicated (because of tumor size, the lesion not being removable or being affixed to the muscular plane). The overall survival rate among patients treated with intent to cure was 54.5%. We also present the indications and contraindications of this surgical technique.