Objective To investigate the clinicopathological characteristics and factors influencing the prognosis of rectal carcinoid. Methods Clinical data of 31 cases with rectal careinoid, which identified diagnosis through operation and pathologic examination from January 2003 to March 2010 were retrospectively reviewed. Primary tumors were classified by size （≤1.0 cm， 1.0-2.0 cm， and ＞2.0 cm）and muscularis invasion respectively, compared therapeutic effect of different groups. Results Median age of 31 cases was 49 years (22-83 years). Median follow-up time was 36 months (15-86 months), follow-up rate was 80.6% （25 /31）. During the follow-up period, there were no cases with recurrence among the 15 patients with tumor size≤l.0 cm, 1 case recurred in the 7 patients with turmor size between 1.0 cm to 2.0 cm, and 2 cases died from postoperative liver metastasis among the 3 patients with tumor size＞2.0 cm.There were relations between the tumor size, invasion depth, and metastasis （P＜0.05）. Metastasis and invasion depth of tumor were possibility increment to follow the aggrandizement of the diameter of rectal carcinoid. Conclusion The diameter of rectal carcinoid and muscularis invasion may be important factors affecting survival, which may be an important basis for the choice of operative mode.