Objective To approach the surgical therapeutic efficacy of local recurrence of rectal cancer. Methods Fifty-six patients with local recurrence of rectal cancer suffered from reoperation from January 2003 to January2011 in this hospital were collected. Chi-square test was performed to analyze the complete excision rates of reoperation for different recurrent time after radical resection and different surgical procedures after primary radical resection of rectalcancer. The method of log-rank test was used for survival analysis of the Miles and Dixon procedure. Results ①The opera-tion time and intraoperative bleeding of reoperation for local recurrence of rectal cancer were more than those of the primary radical resection of rectal cancer （P＜0.05）. ②The complete resection rate of the local recurrence of rectal cancer in 5 years after primary radical resection of rectal cancer was higher than that of the local recurrence of rectal cancer within 2 years after primary radical resection of rectal cancer， and the difference was statistically significant （P＜0.01）. ③The complete resection rate of the local recurrence of rectal cancer of the technique of Dixon in the primary radical resection of rectal cancer was higher than that of Miles， and the difference was statistically significant （P＜0.05）. ④The median survival time and 2-year survival rate and 5-year survival rate of the technique of Dixon in the reoperation were longer or higher than those of Miles， and the differences were statistically significant （P＜0.05）. Conclusions Surgical procedure and postoperative recurrence time after primary operation can both influence complete excision rate of reoperation for local recurrence of rectal cancer. And reoperation for local recurrence of rectal cancer can prolong the survival time.