[Surgical treatment of acute intestinal obstruction caused by large bowel carcinoma]

In the past 30 years 338 patients with colorectal carcinoma were admitted for acute intestinal obstruction which accounted for 17.17% of 1969 surgically treated colorectal carcinomas. Of these, right colon carcinoma was found in 116 cases, left colon carcinoma in 177, and rectal carcinoma in 45. Sixty nine one-stage resections of the tumor out of 148 emergent operations were carried out including all 29 right colon carcinomas, 20 out 34 left colon carcinomas, and 4 out of 6 rectal carcinomas. In patients undergoing one-stage resections, the overall operative mortality was 3.77%, morbidity happened in one case suffering from anastomotic leakage, and the five year survival rate was 43.4% compared with no operative mortality, and five year survival of only 18.75% in delayed resection group. Our data showed that the mortality of one stage resection of left colon carcinomas complicated with acute obstruction was acceptable and the five year survival rate was slightly higher than that in delayed resection. In terms of whole series, the five year survival rate in one stage resection group was significantly higher than that in delayed resection group. The authors, therefore, favour one stage resection of the tumor in cases of acute intestinal obstruction.