Surgery of Primary Site

See the current version of the SEER Program Coding Manual under Reporting Guidelines, Section VII: First Course of Therapy for complete coding instructions for the surgery data items or Appendix C of the current version of the SEER Program Coding Manual for a complete listing of the colorectal surgery codes and their descriptions.

Surgery is a common form of treatment for colorectal cancers. For rectal tumors, usually preoperative chemoradiation is done first, followed by surgery. The following are types of surgeries done for colorectal cancers.

Surgical Procedure Comments Section
Local tumor excision These include polypectomies and excisional biopsies All
Partial colectomy Removal of one or more segments of the colon, but less than half of colon Colon
Hemicolectomy Total right or left colon removed, and a portion of the transverse colon Colon
Subtotal colectomy Total right or left colon removed with total removal of transverse colon Colon
Total colectomy Removal of colon from cecum to rectosigmoid junction, may include a portion of the rectum Colon
Total proctocolectomy Remove of colon from cecum to rectosigmoid junction, including the entire rectum Colon
Segmental resection; partial proctosigmoid- ectomy, NOS Includes anterior resection, Hartmann’s operation, lower anterior resection (LAR), partial colectomy, rectosigmoidectomy, sigmoidectomy Recto-
Sigmoid
Junction, Rectum
Low anterior resection Diseased portion of the rectosigmoid junction or rectum is removed, along with a sigmoidectomy. Anastomosis is created with the end of the large intestine. Recto-
Sigmoid
Junction,
Rectum
Total proctectomy Abdominoperineal resection (A&P resection), anterior/posterior (A/P resection)/Mile’s operation, Rankin’s operation Recto-
Sigmoid
Junction,
Rectum

Document surgery details in NAACCR Item # 2610: Text-Dx Proc-Surg

Updated: June 24, 2025