An abdominoperineal resection, formally known as abdominoperineal resection of the rectum and abdominoperineal excision of the rectum or simply abdominoperineal excision, is a surgery for rectal cancer. It is frequently abbreviated as AP resection and APR.

This operation is one of the less commonly performed by general surgeons, although they are specifically trained to perform this operation. As low case volumes in rectal surgery have been found to be associated with higher complication rates, it is often centralised in larger centres, where case volumes are higher.

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdominoperineal_resection