Objective: To investigate the clinical efficacy of complete mesorectal excision (CEM) in treatment of stage III colon cancer. Methods: The clinical data of 129 patients with stage III colon cancer were retrospectively analyzed. Of the patients, 62 cases underwent CEM procedure (CEM group), and 67 cases were subjected to traditional colon cancer radical resection (traditional group). The perioperative variables and postoperative recurrence and survival between the two groups of patients were compared. Results: Compared with traditional group, in CEM group the operative time (159.4 min vs. 168.9 min), time to flatus (4.3 d vs. 4.5 d), duration of fasting (5.4 d vs. 5.7 d), retention time of drainage tube (9.4 d vs. 10.0 d), length of hospital stay (15.3 d vs. 16.0 d) and overall incidence of postoperative complications (4.84% vs. 10.45%) showed no statistical difference (all P>0.05), but the intraoperative blood loss was decreased (126.4 mL vs. 155.1 mL, P<0.05) and number of dissected lymph nodes was increased (32.6 vs. 28.3, P<0.05). There was no statistical difference between CEM group and traditional group in either 1- and 2-year recurrence rate (3.23% vs. 5.97%; 14.52% vs. 20.90%) or 1- and 2-year survival rate (98.39% vs. 95.52%; 90.32% vs. 83.58%), (all P>0.05). Conclusion: CEM has similar efficacy as traditional radical surgery in treatment of stage III colon cancer, with advantages of less bleeding and more extensive lymph node dissection.