title: An evaluation of treatment results of emergency versus elective surgery in colorectal cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Colorectal cancer is still one of the most common causes of cancer related deaths in the world despite improvements in diagnosis and treatment modalities, and application of community-based screening methods. Symptoms of colorectal cancer are non-specific and usually manifest following local progression. A number of patients with advanced stage colorectal cancer present to emergency departments with obstruction as the first sign of disease without any previous symptoms. This presentation is an indication for emergency surgery that has a high rate of morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to determine the factors associated with early diagnosis and survival by comparing postoperative results of colorectal cancer patients who underwent surgery under emergency or elective situation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Files of colorectal patients treated between 2009-2013 were retrospectively analyzed. Data on patient age, gender, operation type, intraoperative results, length of hospital stay, co-morbidities, postoperative complications and pathological results were evaluated and compared.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no statistical difference between groups in terms of age, gender, and pathology results (p>0.05). The difference between groups in terms of postoperative length of hospital stay, presence of co-morbid diseases, pathological stage, and postoperative complications was statistically significant (p<0.05). Length of hospital stay, advanced stage on admission, complications such as surgical site infection, evisceration, and anastomosis leakage rates were higher in patients in the emergency surgery group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Risk groups should be determined in order to diagnose colorectal cancer patients at an early stage while they are still asymptomatic, and this information should be incorporated into effective screening programs. This approach will be beneficial to treatment outcomes, complication rates, length of hospital stay, and survival and treatment results.
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Muş State Hospital, Muş, Turkey.
authors.forename: Bahattin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Bayar
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Ankara Dışkapı Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Kerim Bora
authors.initials: KB
authors.lastname: Yılmaz
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Ankara Dışkapı Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Melih
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akıncı
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Konya Training and Research Hospital, Konya, Turkey.
authors.forename: Alpaslan
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Şahin
authors.affiliation: Clinic of General Surgery, Ankara Dışkapı Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors.forename: Hakan
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kulaçoğlu
keywords: Colorectal cancer; complication; elective surgery; emergency surgery; treatment results