Colon cancer surgery in patients operated on an emergency basis.

OBJECTIVE

to study the epidemiological profile of patients with colorectal cancer operated on an emergency basis at the Bonsucesso Federal Hospital.

METHODS

this is a retrospective study of patients operated between January 1999 and December 2012. We analyzed the following variables: age, gender, clinical data, TMN staging, tumor location, survival and types of surgery.

RESULTS

we evaluated 130 patients in the study period. The most frequent clinical picture was intestinal obstruction, in 78% of cases. Intestinal perforation was the surgical indication in 15%. The majority (39%) of the patients had advanced TNM staging, compared with 27% in the initial stage. There were 39 deaths (30%) documented in the period. The most common tumor site was the sigmoid colon (51%), followed by the ascending colon (16%). The curative intent was performed in most cases, with adjuvant treatment being performed in 40% of the patients. Distant metastases were found in 42% of the patients and 10% had documented disease recurrence. Disease-free survival at two and five years was 69% and 41%, respectively.

CONCLUSION

there was a high mortality rate and a low survival rate in colorectal cancer patients operated on urgently.