Colon Polyps

The best way to find and identify colon polyps is with a colonoscopy. This is an exam that looks inside your colon with a lighted camera. While other types of imaging tests can find colon polyps, a colonoscopy allows a healthcare provider to find and remove polyps during the same procedure.

Your healthcare provider can pass tools through the colonoscope to remove polyps or take tissue samples during your colonoscopy. They send these samples to a lab for further study. A pathologist examines the polyp samples under a microscope to identify the type and check for cancer cells.

A colonoscopy does involve some preparation and the use of anesthesia, which may be difficult for some people. Healthcare providers may begin with simpler screening tests for these reasons. However, if another test did find colon polyps, you’d still need to have a colonoscopy to remove them.

Additional tests that may suggest colon polyps include:

• Blood tests. A complete blood count (CBC) may find evidence of anemia from chronic bleeding. A basic metabolic panel may find evidence of electrolyte imbalances. If you have a hereditary syndrome in your family, you might want to have genetic testing to find out if you have the same gene mutations or syndrome.
• Stool tests. A fecal occult blood test looks for microscopic traces of blood in your poop. Other tests look at DNA in your stool to look for changes that suggest cancer.
• Imaging tests. Alternatives to the standard colonoscopy include virtual colonoscopy (a type of CT scan) and capsule endoscopy, (a colonoscopy conducted by a pill-sized video camera that you swallow). Polyps may also show up on a lower GI X-ray exam (also called a barium enema).

How many polyps are in a normal colonoscopy?

It’s normal to have anywhere from no colon polyps to a few. Healthcare providers pay attention to the number of polyps you have, as well as their size, location and type. Since polyps grow very slowly, having fewer and smaller polyps means you’re still at a relatively low risk of developing colorectal cancer.

You may be at a higher risk of developing colon cancer if you have:

• More than three polyps.
• Polyps larger than 10 mm (millimeters).
• Polyps in the right side of your colon (your sigmoid or transverse colon).
• Villous or tubuvillous adenomas.
• Sessile serrated lesions or serrated adenomas.
• A hereditary polyposis syndrome.