[Multivisceral resection of advanced colorectal cancer]

From 1 September to 1 January 1990, a total of 1232 patients underwent surgery for colorectal cancer. Resection was performed on 1112 (90.3%) patients. It was curative in 917 cases and palliative in 195. Multivisceral resection was necessary 82 times because of tumour infiltration of adjacent organs (curative: 69 cases; palliative: 13 cases). The complication rate (26.7% vs 27.5%) and mortality rate (3.4% vs 2.9%) were similar to those for curative resections without multivisceral extension. The 5-year survival rate was also similar in the two groups (58% vs 55%). These results show that curative multivisceral resections can lead to the same long-term results as conventional curative resections. These data are encouraging, and tumour infiltration of neighbouring organs should not be taken to demonstrate inoperability.