SUMMARY

Introduction:

Objective:

to determine the behavior of the colorectal cancer diagnosed by colonoscopy in the Military Hospital "Mario Muñoz", Matanzas.

Material and methods:

a prospective, descriptive, observational study was carried out in patients with hidden blood in fecal feces and colonoscopic diagnosis of colorectal cancer from January 2015 to November 2018. The universe was formed by 135 patients who fulfilled the selection criteria. The studied variables were age group, gender, risk factors, symptoms, locations and stage. A form was used for collecting data. Methods of descriptive statistics were used and the results are showed in charts.

Results:

In 722 colonoscopies carried out to patients with positive hidden blood, 18.7 % was diagnosed as colorectal cancer. The 61-70 years-old age group (30.4 %) and male gender (41.4 %) predominated. The most frequent risk factors were improper diet (46.6 %), sedentary life style (25.2 %), and inflammatory intestinal disease (29.6 %). The most frequent symptoms were diarrhea (45.9 %), abdominal pain (31.1 %) and dyspepsia (25.2 %). The predominant location was the rectum (24.4 %), followed by ascending colon (22.2 %). Stage II patients predominated, with 42.2 %.

Conclusions:

colorectal cancer appeared more frequently in patients in their sixth decade of life as it is reported in the literature, associated to bad dietary habits and to an inadequate style and way of life that could be modified through educative strategies warranting the population's health.