[Low anterior resection versus rectum amputation for treatment of rectal cancer]

In the controversy whether abdominoperineal resection of sphinctersaving resection is more radical for the treatment of lower rectal cancer, 77 consecutive patients with rectal cancer were retrospectively analysed. All resections were curative. 40 patients underwent a low resection and 37 patients an abdomino-perineal resection. Both groups were comparable with regard to age, sex and especially tumor-stage. The crude 5-year survival-rates were 52.5% in the resection group and 54.1% in the amputation group, respectively. The patients with a carcinoma located within 5-10 cm from the anal verge were of special interest. The crude 5-year survival-rates in these special subgroups were 61.9% for the sphinctersaving procedure and 61.5% for the amputation group, respectively. We conclude that the choice of surgical procedure does not influence the prognosis in rectal cancer, in particular, sphinctersaving resection does not worsen the prognosis. Therefore, whenever technically possible, the sphincter-saving resection should be chosen to cure rectal cancer.