[Colorectal surgery--an integral part of general surgery!]

The controversy, whether colorectal surgery should be performed by the general surgeon or the specialist colorectal surgeon, is gaining increasing importance in Europe. The short and long term results in colorectal surgery as well as in other subspecialties are largely determined by the annual case load and the surgical training in colorectal surgery. If both conditions are met, colorectal surgery can be just as safely and successfully performed in a district hospital by a general surgeon. The following advantages support the treatment of colorectal lesions by a general surgeon: the capacity to cope with unforeseen intraoperative problems thanks to the broad surgical experience of the general surgeon, the ability and authorisation to perform multivisceral resections and the ability through the daily training in abdominal surgery to perform emergency interventions since about 30% of all colorectal operations are performed in an emergency setting. Against colorectal specialisation can be argued: increased costs through the need of specialised colorectal surgeons, the establishment of independent units for colorectal surgery, impairment of surgical training and sometimes loss of enthusiasm through the daily routine of the highly specialised surgeon. The common colorectal surgery should remain an integral part of general surgery, given the conditions of an sufficient annual case load of at least 30 colorectal resections and of an adequate surgical training in colorectal surgery.