SURGICAL ASPECTS OF CARCINOMA OF THE LARGE BOWEL

Well informed surgeons today have learned much about carcinoma of the colon and rectum. They know that the disease is often curable but that delayed diagnosis forces almost one half of the victims to seek surgical help in an incurable state. They have been taught the importance of certain characteristic symptoms which at once arouse suspicions demanding thorough investigation. In addition they know from precept, if not from experience, the essential value of abdominal and especially of rectal palpation, of proctoscopy and of sigmoidoscopy. Furthermore, they appreciate the accuracy of diagnosis of the colonic lesions which is possible in the hands of efficient roentgenologists and acknowledge the great contribution which roentgenology has made toward early diagnosis. With these concepts firmly in mind, modern surgeons are profoundly interested in the practical surgical approach and it is to such a consideration that these remarks are addressed. The group of 233 cases on