“The first successful operation for rectal cancer was performed by Lisfranc in 1826. This consisted of excising the anus and rectum via the perineum, which resulted in the functional equivalent of a perineal colostomy” (Warren, History of Excision of the Rectum, Proc R Soc Med. 1957, 50, 599-600).

“In the pre-anesthetic era Jacques Lisfranc (1790-1847) of Paris was the first to perform a planned operation for cancer of the rectum. Lisfranc's operation was a limited excision of the lower end of the rectum from a perineal approach and was first performed in 1826. A few years later in a paper read before the Académie Royale de Médecine, he reported the results in 9 patients, 6 of whom survived and were more or less continent” (Tebala, History of colorectal surgery, Int J Colorectal Dis, 2015, 30, 723-748).