Operative risks in patients with colorectal cancer.

This study emphasizes the risks in the operative treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. In dissecting our overall operative mortality of 7.4 per cent in consecutive patients over a 5-year period, three factors influencing the outcome were identified. These were the age of the patient, the stage of the disease, and the availability of preoperative bowel preparation by mechanical cleansing and antibiotic suppression of the colonic bacterial flora. Earlier diagnosis and elective resection of prepared bowel offers marked improvement in the operative risk for patients with colorectal cancer.