This book consists of 45 chapters written by leading international authorities. Each chapter will analyse the available literature to produce an authoritative statement about the management of colorectal disorders. There will be a concise summary of the best available scientific evidence providing up-to-date information. Individual doctors cannot read everything that is published and cannot possibly synthesise what they do read, so that they are not always aware of what is proven to be effective and what probably is not. The Evidence for… series seeks to fill that need. In The Evidence for Colorectal Surgery we have commissioned systematic reviews of the common operations and some innovative treatments, to present the facts to busy doctors. Where is there and where is there not evidence?