Management of colonic polyps by colonoscopic polypectomy

Colonoscopic polypectomy is an important therapeutic advance as it enables most colonic polyps to be removed entirely and studied pathologically and has virtually replaced surgical treatment. The clinical and pathological features of patients with colonic polyps treated by colonoscopic polypectomy over a five-year period are reported. Seventy-four patients (37 men, 37 women) with a mean age of 57 years had 109 polyps removed by snare polypectomy. Rectal bleeding was the predominant symptom and was present in 63.5%. Lower abdominal pain was present in 12%. The majority of polyps were located in the sigmoid (38.5%) and descending (40.3%) colon. Ninety-five polyps were pedunculated and 14 were sessile. Of the neoplastic polyps, 61.6% were pure tubular adenomas, 25.2% were mixed tubulo-villous adenomas and 1% were pure villous adenomas. There were no complications arising from colonoscopy or snare polypectomy. Colonoscopic polypectomy is a safe, reliable and cost-effective therapeutic procedure that has revolutionized the management of pre-cancerous neoplastic colonic polyps.