Background:

Early diagnosis of colon cancer is crucial for the survival of patients 5 years after surgical treatment.

Objective:

To know the duration of health care and the related factors in colon cancer.

Material and methods:

This is an observational, cross-sectional, retrospective study that was carried out in a tertiary care hospital by reviewing the records of patients diagnosed with colon cancer who underwent surgery and were followed up in the general surgery service.

Results:

In 40 files of patients with colon cancer, there was no predominance of sex, the average age was 63 years in men and 58 years in women. The average time from symptom onset to surgical treatment was 13 months. A correlation was found between mean time of care and clinical stage (p = 0.05) and between the time elapsed from diagnosis to treatment with the presence of any comorbidity (Spearman p = 0.017).

Conclusions:

The health care time in patients with colon cancer at the tertiary care level is the recommended average. Times are prolonged in the referral from the first to the second level of care. Early care of patients with colon cancer continues to be a challenge to overcome.

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