Of 60 patients presenting with acute obstructing carcinoma of the left colon, 49 underwent immediate resection either by radical subtotal/total colectomy (31 patients, group I) or by radical segmental resection (18 patients, group II) of whom three had immediate anastomosis after on-table bowel irrigation and 15 had a planned staged procedure. The operative mortality rate was 3 per cent in group I and 11 per cent in group II (not a statistically significant difference). However, substantial differences were found for major morbidity (6 versus 44 per cent in groups I and II respectively; P less than 0.01) and mean length of hospital stay (17 days in group I versus 35 days in group II; P less than 0.05). All three patients who had on-table lavage developed anastomotic leaks which necessitated a second operation to form a stoma. Six patients (19 per cent) in group I required antidiarrhoeal medication in the immediate postoperative period. However, subsequent improvement in stool frequency was noted in all patients. It is concluded that subtotal/total colectomy is an acceptable means of managing patients with obstructing carcinoma of the left colon in that it is associated with a low morbidity and mortality rate and good functional results.