The Authors report a retrospective study of 46 cases of Hartmann's operation in order to analyze the changing indications to this procedure in the management of colo-rectal cancer. The Hartmann's is operation has been performed in 46 out of 723 patients (6.4%) with colorectal cancer treated surgically from 1973 to 1997. Data concerning the indications have been analyzed in two consecutive periods, from 1973 to 1985 and from 1986 to 1997, respectively. In the first period, the procedure has been performed in patients with neoplastic perforation (40% of Hartmann's cases), and in an elective basis in patients with locally invasive tumor or intra-abdominal metastasis (20%). Indications for the procedure in the period 1986-1997 have been locally invasive tumor and/or distant metastasis (52.8% of Hartmann's procedures), neoplastic perforation (22.2%), high surgical anaesthesiologic risk (22.2%) or intestinal obstruction (2.8%). In the second period it has been noted a decrease of the number of patients that underwent Hartmann's procedure for bowel obstruction, and an increase in the number of cases in which the operation was performed for neoplastic perforation, for local and/or distant diffusion, or for high surgical risk.