[Colon and rectal cancer]

The therapeutic risk for patients with colorectal carcinoma has been reduced considerably by operation-accompanying measures (alimentary preparation, antegrade irrigation, perioperative antibiotic prophylaxis). Thus, the number both of resections as well as of curative operations increased and the prospects of continence-preserving operations of rectum cancer improved. The temporary transverse colostomy in leftside resection is extremely controversial, the author recommends its generos employment. The indications for the resection according to Hartmann and for palliative local tumor excisions in case of imponderably high therapeutic risk are suggested.