Surgical treatment of tumors of the distal rectum with sphincter preservation.

One hundred one patients with villous adenoma or invasive carcinoma of the distal rectum treated with local excision or coloanal anastomosis were studied. Twenty-three (45%) of the 51 patients with villous adenomas had transanal excision, another 23 (45%) had a posterior proctotomy, and five (10%) had a coloanal anastomosis. Only two patients with a villous adenoma developed a recurrence requiring repeat local excision. Fifteen (30%) of the 50 patients with invasive cancer were treated by transanal excision. All had tumors confined to the submucosa or superficial muscularis. Eighteen (85%) of 21 patients having posterior proctotomy also had tumors with similar depth of invasion. Six (43%) of the 14 patients having coloanal anastomosis had Dukes' B tumors, six (43%) were Dukes' C, and another two (14%) underwent palliative resection. The overall actuarial 5-year survival was 77%. Only four patients treated by transanal excision or posterior proctotomy died of metastatic disease. In the coloanal group, two of 12 patients undergoing curative resection died of recurrent cancer, and another has a pelvic recurrence. Villous adenomas of the distal rectum and selected carcinomas may be treated with local excision and coloanal anastomosis with preservation of sphincter function with good results.