It should be recognized that these guidelines should not be deemed inclusive of all proper methods of care or exclusive of methods of care reasonably directed to obtaining the same results. The ultimate judgment regarding the propriety of any specific procedure must be made by the physician in light of all of the circumstances presented by the individual patient.

Although morbidity and the need for revisional surgery are high, the artificial bowel sphincter can improve anal incontinence and quality of life in patients with severe fecal incontinence.

Both heparin 5,000 units subcutaneously every 8 hours and enoxaparin 40 mg subcutaneously once daily provide highly effective and safe prophylaxis for patients undergoing colorectal surgery. However, given the current differences in cost, prophylaxis with low-dose heparin remains the preferred method at present.

Dynamic graciloplasty was successful in the majority of patients with end-stage fecal incontinence. This result was usually achieved by 12 months after surgery in patients who did not have stomas and by 18 months in patients who had stomas at the time of dynamic graciloplasty surgery. These various improvements conferred by dynamic graciloplasty persisted during the two-year follow-up.

The quality of online patient information regarding colorectal cancer treatment is highly variable, often incomplete, and does not adequately convey the information necessary for patients to make well-informed medical decisions regarding treatment for colorectal cancer. An opportunity exists for professional medical societies to create more comprehensive online patient information materials that may serve as a resource to physicians and their patients (see Video, Supplemental Digital Content 1, http://links.lww.com/DCR/A122).