Total mesorectal exsicion (TME).

For almost twenty years the concept of total mesorectal excision (TME) has featured in the medical literature. It remains however the object of ongoing controversy and sometimes of downright antagonism. At the present time there are at least four other names for exactly the same technique being championed by different authorities. 1. Circumferential Mesorectal Excision (Enker); 2. Sharp Mesorectal Excision (Cohen); 3. Extrafascial Excision of the Rectum (Hill); 4. Total Anatomical Dissection (Boley). As Shakespeare said "A rose by any other name would smell as sweet".