title: Abdominoperineal resection in the octogenarian.
abstract: Traditionally, abdominoperineal resection has been the accepted surgical therapy for anorectal carcinoma. A review is presented of the experience with this procedure at the University of Iowa Hospitals, involving 52 patients (33 men, 19 women) over the age of 80 (median, 81 years). The most common symptoms were: rectal bleeding in 35 patients, change in character of stool in 35, weight loss in 13, and abdominal pain in 7. A rectal mass was palpable in 45 patients and visible by sigmoidoscopy in 3 others. Of the 52 patients, 23 percent (12/52) died before postoperative discharge from the hospital, and 32 percent of the survivors had significant postoperative complications. The most lethal complications were related to problems of surgical technique. The median survival time for patients discharged from the hospital was 22 months, with causes of death being equally distributed between recurrent carcinoma and other disorders. Abdominoperineal resection remains an acceptable method for treatment of anorectal carcinoma in the aged (80 or older) provided it is carried out with meticulous technique and careful selection of the patients.
mesh_terms: D000005:Abdomen / Q000601:surgery; D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D000368:Aged; D002281:Carcinoma, Basosquamous / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007484:Iowa; D008297:Male; D010502:Perineum / Q000601:surgery; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000601:surgery*; D012189:Retrospective Studies