Clinicopathological features of colorectal polyps in 2002 and 2012

There are few comparative studies on the historical changes in the clinicopathologic characteristics of colorectal polyps in Korea. This retrospective study compared the clinicopathologic characteristics of colorectal polyps treated at our institution in 2002 and 2012.

The medical records of 1,816 patients who underwent colonoscopy and were found to have colorectal polyps in 2002 (n = 597) or 2012 (n = 1,219) were reviewed retrospectively. Patient characteristics and polyp sizes, gross morphologies, locations, and pathologic results were analyzed and compared.

Mean age was older in the 2002 group than in the 2012 group (67.3 ± 11.1 years vs. 55.4 ± 10.8 years, p < 0.001). The 1,816 study subjects had a total of 3,723 colorectal polyps, with a mean of 2.05 polyps per patient. Mean polyp size was larger in the 2002 group than in the 2012 group (0.6 ± 0.4 cm vs. 0.4 ± 0.3 cm, p < 0.001). The most common histology was tubular adenoma and they were more common in the right colon in both study groups. Although the distribution of total adenoma was not significantly different between groups, the location of advanced adenoma differed significantly and was more common in the right colon in the 2012 group (30.4% vs. 63.2%, p = 0.01).

No significant change in total polyps and adenoma distribution was found between 2002 and 2012. However, advanced adenoma was more common in the right colon in 2012, which cautiously suggests a locational shift from the left to right colon. These findings indicate that right colon polyps require more attention.