[Anterior resection and abdomino-perineal extirpation in patients with rectal cancer: a retrospective analysis (author's transl)].

Eighty-seven patients with an abdomino-perineal extirpation of the rectum and 75 patients with an anterior resection of the rectum could be analysed retrospectively. The mean observation period was 36 months for anterior resection and 38 months for abdomino-perineal extirpation. The rate of recurrences, mortality, and postoperative complications of each surgical method was correlated to tumor-localization, -staging, and -grading. The poor prognosis of patients with abdomino-perineal extirpation was mainly due to relatively more cases in advanced tumor stage. In rectal cancer above 7 cm anterior resection should be performed.