Colorectal carcinoma: a six years experience at a tertiary care hospital of Sindh

ABSTRACT

To find out the frequency of colorectal carcinoma in our population. Case Series. All patients with colorectal carcinoma admitted in surgical department of People's Medical College Hospital, Nawabshah Sindh - Pakistan from September 1996 to September 2001 were included in the study. Total fifty-six patients with age range of 14 to 70 years; thirty males and twenty six females were studied. Most of the patients were in fifth and sixth decades of their life. Only ten patients with colorectal carcinoma were in twenty-one to thirty years age group while two patients were below the age of twenty years. Common sites involved were rectum [46.43%] followed by sigmoid colon [28.57%]. Bleeding per rectum [62.05%] and altered bowel habits [35.71%] were the commonest symptoms. Histo-pathologically, twenty patients had well differentiated adenocarcinoma [35.72%] where as eighteen patients had anaplastic tumour [32.14%] and mucinous adenocarcinoma was found in five patients [8.92%]. Colorectal carcinoma is affecting even the younger age group in our set up. Bleeding per rectum and altered bowel habits are the main symptoms and these symptoms irrespective of the age should be thoroughly investigated