Fifty-five patients of mean age 69 (range 41-96) years with rectal cancer (Dukes' A:B:C, 11:24:20) underwent anterior resection using a double stapling technique under the care of one consultant surgeon between 1983 and 1988. The mean distance of the anastomosis from the anal margin was 7.2 (range 4-13) cm. The clinical leak rate was 9 per cent (five patients). There were three postoperative deaths from pulmonary embolism, lower limb ischaemia and renal failure. On prospective follow-up, 35 patients had no evidence of local or systemic cancer a median of 32 (range 24-84) months after operation; seven have died from unrelated diseases and ten from metastatic cancer. Pelvic recurrence, in four patients at 9, 11, 12 and 50 months, has occurred only in association with widespread metastasis. These results suggest that the theoretical risks of an increase in the local recurrence rate of rectal cancer after resection using a double stapling technique are not substantiated.