RESUMO
The introductory paper on the dilemmas in surgery of the colon and rectum provides the basic information on the pathology most frequently dealt with in this field. It reviews the present state of surgical tactics for solving these issues in Yugoslavia and in the world. Special stress is still to be placed on the carcinoma. The paper treats more extensively the vascular disorders, wish lately, have been on a constant increase outranking the hitherto more widely konown conditions, such as Crohn's disease, bleeding ulcerative colitis and familial and common polyposis of the rectum and sygmoid colon. Finally, the paper points to the sexual problem brought obout by the mutilative interventions, especially on the rectum and rectosygmoid colon, which is generally ignored and passed over without due attention.