Alternative surgical procedures for primary rectal carcinoma.

This review summarizes the recent literature on alternative surgical procedures for treating rectal carcinoma. After a brief examination of publications on preoperative staging, current reports on alternative surgical procedures, from local excision to anterior resection and extended resection, are discussed. Although radiotherapy and chemotherapy are assuming increasingly prominent roles in the management of rectal carcinoma, detailed examination of these therapies is beyond the scope of this review.