[Rectoscopic diagnosis of the height of rectal carcinoma (author's transl)].

In 100 excisions of the rectum at the Chirurgische Universitätsklinik Erlangen the height of the tumor determined preoperatively by rectoscopic diagnosis was compared directly to the real tumor location of the fresh and unfixed specimen. In up to 58% of the cases we found a distinct discrepancy between the height determined rectoscopically and the real location of the tumor. This result shows that the decision between excision and resection must never be made on the preoperative rectoscopic information, but that the indication must always depend on the intraoperative findings. This is especially true for the disputed cases of the middle third of the rectum.