[Colonoscopic follow up of rectocolonic cancer surgeries. Assessment of 64 examinations].

A collation of 64 colonoscopic examinations performed on 41 patients operated on for cancer of the colon or rectum is reported. Eleven patients (26.8 percent) had positive follow-up endoscopic findings. In 13 enumerated tumoral proliferations. 8 benign polyps and 5 malignant growths were found, one of the latter on the anastomosis, and the other 4 on the remaining colon. 80 percent of these tumoral growths and all malignant tumors were discovered in the two years following surgery. When colonic strictures present before operation prevent total colonoscopic exploration, such an endoscopic examination of the colon in its entirety must be made immediately following passage of three post-operative months. It is prudent not to wait for attendant alarming signs but rather to integrate total colonoscopy including excision of "overlooked" or newly-formed polyps into the follow-up protocol of all colon surgery cancer patients who have become high-risks for either a relapse or recurrence of polyps. In the initial two post-operative years, when there is a maximal risk. Colonoscopy should be performed every six months and thereafter at longer but regular intervals throughout survival.