Rectal canceR SuRgeRy

..........................................................................................7 LIST OF PAPERS ................................................................................ 9 ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................ 10 INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................11 DEVELOPMENT OF RECTAL CANCER SURGERY ..................................13 ADJUVANT TREATMENT ................................................................................15 MORBIDITY IN SPHINCTER SAVING SURGERY ......................................16 ANASTOMOTIC LEAKAGE .............................................................................17 AIMS OF THE STUDY .................................................................... 23 PATIENTS AND METHODS ..........................................................25 METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS ............................... 32 STATISTICS ...................................................................................... 34 ETHICS .............................................................................................. 34 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION .........................................................35 SUMMARY .........................................................................................55 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................57 SUMMARY IN SWEDISH (SAMMANFATTNING PÅ SVENSKA) .....59 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................... 63 REFERENCES .....................................................................................65 PAPERS I-V .........................................................................................73