[Tumors of the large intestine in acute phase]

A retrospective study was carried out on 406 patients operated on for tumours of the large bowel in the acute stage between 1975 and 1985. 285 cases were operated immediately, 53 for acute perforations and 232 for complete occlusions, whereas 121 were operated on with deferred urgency. The surgical approach was generally conservative in 230 cases while in 159 immediate tumour resection was carried out. In the event of conservative operation, a second resection was possible in 94 cases (51.36% of survivors). Immediate resections had a five year survival better than those carried out in several stages (27.50% against 18.28%). However, the immediate postoperative course reported lower mortality. The present study and reported data show that surgical treatment of obstructions and neoplastic perforations of the large bowel is not completely standardised.