title: Mortality in patients with obstructing colorectal cancer.
abstract: Of 1,033 patients with colorectal carcinoma, 238 (23%) presented with obstruction. The majority of tumours (74%) were potentially curable (Dukes B/C) at presentation. Tumours situated at the splenic flexure, transverse or descending colon were most likely to obstruct. Perioperative mortality was high following either primary resection (31%) or fashioning of a defunctioning stoma alone (25%) but was twice as high (40%) in patients over 70 than those under 70 (20%). Cardiorespiratory complications accounted for 55% of this mortality, while fatal technical complications occurred in 19%. Sixty seven patients (28%) had two operations, 51 patients (21%) had three operations.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D003110:Colonic Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D004739:England; D006801:Humans; D007415:Intestinal Obstruction / Q000209:etiology / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery; D007431:Intraoperative Complications / Q000401:mortality; D012004:Rectal Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000401:mortality* / Q000601:surgery