Objective To explore application of preoperative examination in the colorectal cancer patients. Methods The preoperative examination data of patients diagnosed definitely as colorectal cancer at West China Hospital of Sichuan University from November 2006 to June 2007 was retrospectively study, and the application situation and relationship among all preoperative examination in the colorectal cancer patients were analyzed. Results According to the inclusion criteria, 438 colorectal cancer patients were included which involved 260 males and 178 females. Preoperative examinations included two to sixteen items, with an average of 10.61 items. According to correlation analysis, positive correlation existed among lung function and blood type ( r =0.161, P =0.001), tumor marker ( r =0.118, P =0.014), chest X-ray ( r =0.113, P =0.018), routine electrocardiogram ( r =0.198, P =0.000) , while lung function and immune and stress reaction exhibit a negative correlation ( r =-0.106, P = 0.027) with preoperative examinations. At the same time, immune and stress reaction had positive correlation to CT examinations of abdomen ( r =0.151, P =0.001) as well as endorectal ultrasound ( r =0.330, P =0.000). Using univariate analysis, the influence of tumor location ( P =0.012) and operative method ( P =0.004) on the number of examination items was significant. Conclusion Preoperative examination of colorectal tumor surgery mainly includes routine examination, neoplasm-related examination and important organs function detection. And three levels of preoperative menu can be set up in early stage. Establishment of normalization preoperative combined examination may be helpful to consummate preoperative evaluation and improve medical quality.