[Principles and quality control of surgical therapy of rectal carcinoma]

During the past years, it has been possible to achieve impressive success in the treatment of rectal carcinoma through standardized therapeutic concepts. Through the consistent application of total mesorectal excision (TME) as a therapeutic procedure, a dramatic improvement in local recurrence rate has been attained. Future strategies are now aimed at improving postoperative quality of life and moreover, at reducing the incidence of distant metastasization. The positive development during recent years is ultimately also the result of increasing quality control. Hence, surgery with its specific quality criteria has been integrated into a broad spectrum of various individual factors that must be taken into consideration in a multimodal therapeutic concept.