Colonoscopic polypectomy in a regional teaching hospital

Five hundred and thirty-five polyps were found in 200 patients over 6 years at a regional teaching hospital. Eighty-five per cent of the patients were from the hospital area yet the presentation of the patients, the complications of polypectomy, the size, distribution and histological features of the polyps were similar to large series reported from metropolitan specialist centres of referral both in this country and the USA. However, a smaller proportion of our polyps were over 1 cm diameter. Between 25 and 53 per cent of patients had recurrent or residual polyps on the second and third colonoscopy. Patients with two or more polyps at the first endoscopy were significantly more likely (P less than 0.01) to have further polyps at follow-up. We therefore recommend that patients with colonic polyps are colonoscoped annually until free from polyps for 2 years, before being placed on colonoscopic review at 5-year intervals.