Bowel function is increasingly considered as an important outcome for patients undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer. Increasing technical skills and technological advances have meant fewer patients require a long-term stoma but this comes at the cost, often, of poor function. With a larger range of treatment options available for a given cancer, both function and oncology should be considered in parallel when counselling patients before surgery. In the perioperative phase, bowel function can be improved with minimally invasive surgery and enhanced recovery after surgery protocols, with limited evidence for targeted medical therapies. Early detection and sound management of surgical complications such as anastomotic leak and stricture can mitigate their adverse effects on bowel function. Long-term gastrointestinal dysfunction manifests as diarrhoea and low anterior resection syndrome for colon and rectal cancer respectively. Multi-modal strategies for low anterior resection syndrome are emerging to improve significantly quality of life after restorative rectal cancer surgery.

肠功能日益被认为是接受结直肠癌手术的患者的重要结局。随着技术水平的提高和技术的进步，需要长期造口的患者越来越少，但这往往以功能不佳为代价。对于给定的癌症，由于有更多的治疗选择，在手术前为患者提供咨询时，应同时考虑功能和肿瘤学。在围手术期，可以通过微创手术改善肠功能，并在手术方案后提高恢复率，而靶向药物治疗的证据有限。早期发现和合理处理外科手术并发症，例如吻合口漏和狭窄，可以减轻它们对肠功能的不利影响。长期胃肠道功能不全表现为结肠癌和直肠癌的腹泻和低位前切除综合征。低位前切除综合征的多模式策略正在出现，以显着改善恢复性直肠癌手术后的生活质量。