Alternate Names: Intestinal polyps

Causes and Risks:

Polyps of the colon and rectum are usually benign and produce no symptoms, but they may cause painless rectal bleeding. There may be single or multiple polyps and the incidence increases with age. Over time, certain types of polyps called adenomatous polyps can develop into cancer.

Polyps greater than 1 centimeter have a greater cancer risk associated with them than polyps under 1 centimeter. Risk factors include advancing age, cigarette smoking, high fat, low fiber diet and a family history of polyps.

Polyps may also be associated with some inheritable disorders including:

• Gardner’s syndrome
• Peutz-Jeghers syndromes
• juvenile polyposis
• familial adenomatous polyposis

Prevention:

The following is recommended to reduce the risk of developing polyps:

• Diet low in fat, and high in fruits, vegetables, and fiber
• Avoidance of smoking and excessive alcohol intake
• Maintenance of normal body weight

Awareness of risk factors and routine colorectal cancer screening may make earlier diagnosis and treatment possible.

Symptoms:

• usually clinically silent
• rectal bleeding
• rarely, abdominal pain

Additional symptoms that may be associated with this disease:

• stools, bloody
• fatigue associated with anemia

Signs and Tests:

A rectal examination may reveal a palpable polyp.

Tests that show polyps:

• sigmoidoscopy
• colonoscopy
• anoscopy
• barium enema
• stool guaiac
• A CBC may show anemia.

Treatment:

Colorectal polyps larger than 1 centimeter present a greater risk of cancer and must be removed. Usually the polyps can be removed by colonoscopy. Follow-up colonoscopy should be performed in 3 years to check for polyp recurrence. For polyps with a high malignancy potential a colectomy (removal of a part of the colon) may be recommended.

Prognosis:

Most types of polyps have less than a 5% chance of being malignant (cancerous).

Complications: There are usually no complications.

Call your health care provider if rectal bleeding occurs.