What size colon polyp should be removed?

The article is professionally consulted by Doctor Vo Thi Thuy Trang - Gastrointestinal Endoscopy - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Da Nang International Hospital.

Colon polyps are abnormal areas of tissue that protrude into the colon lumen, arising from the lining of the colon. There are many different types of polyps in terms of their potential for benign and malignant progression. Therefore, whether to remove polyps or not depends on many factors such as polyp type, number of polyps, colon polyp size,...

Gastrointestinal polyps mainly appear in the colon. Colon polyps are usually asymptomatic when they first appear. When they grow large, they can cause the patient to have blood in the stool, abdominal pain, ... Colon polyps can cause bleeding complications, intestinal obstruction or cancer, leading to colon and rectal cancer. ,...
Colon polyps can be benign or malignant (cancerous). Benign polyps are divided into two groups:
Benign polyps and almost no cancer, including inflammatory polyps, hyperplastic polyps,...; The group is benign but has the ability to become cancerous after a while, including ductal polyps, villi or ductal adenomatous polyps. The cancer potential of these polyps is related to the size of colon polyps: Colon polyps less than 1cm: Risk of cancer 0 - 2%; Colon polyps 1cm - 2cm: 10 - 20% cancer risk; Colon polyps 2cm or more: The risk of cancer is 30-50%. Progression of colon polyps less than 0.5cm in size is usually very slow. According to studies from Japan, the size and nature of polyps with a diameter of less than 0.5cm usually do not change when examined by endoscopy after 4-5 years.

The choice of colon polypectomy or not will depend on the type of polyp, the number of polyps as well as the size of the colon polyp. Specifically:
If in group 1: The patient does not need to remove polyps because the progression of this group usually does not turn into cancer; If in group 2: In case the number of polyps is not much, the patient will be assigned to cut polyps through endoscopic, performed many times (5-10 polyps each time). In cases where the patient has hundreds of polyps along the colonic framework, a colectomy may be considered. Usually, for colon polyps 5mm or more, the doctor will remove during colonoscopy, and perform a biopsy to see if there are cancer cells or not. For polyps that are smaller and cause no symptoms, they may not need to be removed but should be monitored with periodic endoscopy.
In particular, in some cases, even though colon polyps are smaller than 0.5cm, but the surface is rough, like a malignant tumor, they will be indicated for removal and biopsy. However, so that the patient is not too worried, doctors often recommend removing polyps immediately if possible (low number of polyps, convenient polyp removal location) or appointment to re-examine colonoscopy after 1 year.
After colon polyp removal, the patient's diet and lifestyle can return to normal. In addition, patients will be monitored and examined periodically to assess the effectiveness of treatment, promptly handle if recurrence. At the same time, people who have relatives with polyps or colorectal cancer should also pay attention to regular colonoscopy to detect and treat the disease early, to avoid unpredictable complications.
For people in a high-risk group for colon cancer such as inflammatory bowel disease (ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease); a family member with colorectal cancer; Suspected familial adenomatous polyposis, Lynch syndrome, especially those with colon polyps, colon cancer screening is extremely necessary. Colon cancer screening and early detection package provided by Vinmec International General Hospital is the best solution for this target group.

Joining the Examination Package, customers will receive:
Gastroenterology Specialist Examination (with appointment); Perform tests such as: Complete colonoscopy with NBI endoscope, with anesthesia; Diagnostic colonoscopy with flexible bronchoscope (with NBI machine, with anesthesia) With nearly 20 years of working at Da Nang General Hospital in the field of gastroenterology - hepatobiliary disease, every year, Dr. Vo Thi Thuy Participating in endoscopy more than 1500 cases, including: endoscopic diagnosis of stomach and colon diseases such as: detecting inflammation, ulcers, polyps, cancer, finding HP bacteria, detecting early cancer of the digestive tract. ..; Endoscopic treatment such as: Hemostasis in gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal varices ligation in cirrhosis, endoscopic gastrointestinal polypectomy...