Emergency Presentations of Colorectal Cancer

Many colorectal carcinomas will present emergently with issues such as obstruction, perforation, and bleeding. Emergency surgery is associated with poor short- and long-term outcomes. For abnormality localizing to the colon proximal to the splenic flexure, surgical management with hemicolectomy is often a safe and appropriate approach. Obstructions are more common in the distal colon, however, where there is an evolving spectrum of surgical and nonsurgical options, most notably by the development of endoluminal stents. Perforation and bleeding are managed similarly to benign causes, as malignancy may be only part of a differential diagnosis at the time of an operation.