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The aim of the present study was to investigate the clinical value of the preoperative neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and red blood cell distribution width (RDW) in the peripheral blood of colorectal carcinoma (CRC) patients. Clinical data obtained from 240 patients with CRC undergoing radical surgical resection in Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong University (Jinan, Shandong, China) between January 2011 and April 2015 were retrospectively analyzed. Data were also collected from 110 patients with colon polyps and 48 healthy volunteers to serve as controls for comparative analysis. The clinicopathological characteristics of the patients in the low and high NLR and RDW groups were compared. The NLR and RDW values were compared prior to and following surgery. Kaplan-Meier analyses and Cox regression modeling were performed to predict overall survival (OS) and disease-free survival (DFS). The NLR and RDW levels in the CRC patients were markedly higher than those in the colon polyp patients and the healthy controls. The optimum NLR and RDW cutoff points for CRC were 2.06 and 13.45%, respectively. Significant differences were detected in tumor location, diameter, degree of differentiation, tumor depth, carcinoembryonic antigen and carbohydrate antigen 199 when comparing the high and low NLR groups (P<0.05). A high RDW was significantly associated with distant metastasis and older age in CRC patients. No significant difference was detected in the NLR and RDW levels of CRC patients prior to and following surgery (P>0.05). CRC patients with an increased RDW had significantly worse OS and DFS rates, particularly those with metastatic CRC (P<0.05). Patients with a high NLR exhibited a reduced DFS time in CRC (P=0.053), although this difference was not significant, and a significantly worse DFS time in metastatic CRC (P=0.047). In conclusion, it is convenient to use preoperative NLR and RDW to predict prognosis following surgery for patients with CRC.