Colorectal surgery is a division of surgery, dealing with disorders of the rectum, anus, and colon. The field is also known as proctology, but the latter term is now used infrequently within medicine, and is most often employed to identify practices relating to the anus and rectum in particular. It repairs injury to the colon, rectum, and anus over a variety of procedures that may have little or great long-term consequence to the patient. It may also involve surgery to the pelvic floor to repair hernias. Physicians specializing in this field of medicine are called colorectal surgeons or proctologists.