What are Colonic Polyps?

Colonic polyps are linings of mucosa which form a mushroom shape. A colonic polyp that has a stalk is known as "pendulated", and ones with no stalk are called "sessile".

Colonic polyps, as their name suggests, are found in the colon. Usually, these polyps are benign but do have the potential to become more serious and malignant if left unchecked. As always, it is important to regularly see your doctor so that problems of all kinds can be caught in the early stages.

There are four different types of polyps: metaplastic, hamartomatous, inflammatory, and neoplastic.

*Metaplastic polyps - Occur when a change of the cells of the epithelia takes place. These are a tissue overgrowth of normal mucosa and are the most common type of colonic polyp. The metaplastic variety typically do no t grow larger than 5mm and are not malignant in nature.

*Hamartomatous polyps - Growths due to faulty development which are found in organs. These are usually composed of a mixture of tissues.

*Inflammatory polyp - Associated with inflammatory conditions like Crohns disease and ulcerative colitiis.

*Neoplastic polyp - A tissue containing cells which have lost their normal differentiation. These can be both benign and malignant growths. When these occur in the bowel, they are called adenomas or tumors of glandular tissue or columnar cells. They can also be broken down even further ingo villous, tubular, or tubularvillous.

To diagnose a patient with polyps, a colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy is required and they can be removed at the same time these procedures are done. Regular monitoring through colonoscopy procedures is needed to track the progress. Severe cases can be treated with colonic resection.

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