In order to assess if results after anterior resections (AR) compared with abdominoperineal resections (APR) for mid rectal tumours have changed since the circular stapler was introduced into clinical practice, two consecutive series of patients were reviewed. The first series comprises 81 patients treated between 1974-79. Sixteen were treated with AR and 65 with APR. Except for the later part of 1979, the stapling instrument was not available during this period. The second series comprises 156 patients (51 AR and 105 APR) operated on during the period 1980-85, when the circular stapler was in extensive use. All patients had curative operations for tumours 6-11 cm from the anal verge. In the first series the local recurrence rate was 5/13 (39%) after an AR and 25/61 (41%) after an APR, and in the second series 8/50 (16%) and 17/100 (17%) after AR and APR, respectively. Cancer specific survival did not differ between operations in any of the series. Thus no deterioration in results could be detected since the stapling technique became part of surgical routine.