[Current aspects of the surgical treatment of colonic ileus caused by stenosing colonic carcinoma].

Formerly it was considered dangerous to undertake resection in the presence of colonic obstruction. This idea has been abandoned. Immediate right hemicolectomy is the accepted treatment for obstructed lesions of the right colon. For obstruction of the left colon proximal colostomy or caecostomy are being challenged by immediate resection as a Hartmann operation with iliac colostomy or finished with a colo-colonic or colo-rectal anastomosis. A subtotal colectomy with ileo-sigmoid or ileo-rectal anastomosis is a further method with encouraging experiences. From 1979-1984 a series of 33 patients with obstruction from a carcinoma of the left colon underwent emergency abdominal colectomy with primary ileosigmoidostomy or ileorectostomy without diversion. The mortality and morbidity was favourable compared with those reported in series of similar cases treated by stages procedures or primary resection. Several advantages of this method are explained and further encouraging experiences from other centers are reported.