Between January 1, 1973 and December 31, 1986, 1.734 patients underwent colorectal resections for carcinoma. The patients were divided into two groups: group I included 163 patients > 80 years on first presentation; group II comprised 1.571 patients < 80 years. The total perioperative mortality rates of the elderly and younger group were 15.3 percent and 5 percent respectively (p < 0.001). The surgical mortality rates in group I were 7.4 percent after elective operations versus 4.5 percent in group II and were not statistically different. Emergency surgery was associated with a significantly higher incidence of perioperative deaths at any age (p < 0.001). In the elderly group, most deaths (88%) resulted from complications of coexisting medical disorders or thrombo-embolic complications. The 5 year survival for the young and elderly groups were 46.2 percent and 35 percent respectively (p < 0.05). However, excluding patients dying from nonmalignant disease, the 5 year survival rate did not differ significantly between the two groups of patients (49.5 percent versus 42.2 percent).