What is a Colon Polyp?

A colon polyp is a lining of mucosa which forms a mushroom shape. Colonic polyps have a stalk and is known as “pendulated”, and ones with no stalk are called “sessile”.

A colonic polyp, as it’s name suggests, is found in the colon. Usually, these polyps are benign but can potentially become more serious and even malignant if left unchecked. As always, you should see your doctor on oa regular basis so that conditions can be caught early on.

There are four different types of colon polyps.

• Metaplastic
• Hamartomatous
• Inflammatory
• Neoplastic

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

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.

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

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

To diagnose an individual with colon polyps, a sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy is required. Polyps can be removed at the same time that these procedures are done. Regular monitoring through colonoscopy procedures is needed in order to track the progress and the most severe cases of colonix polyps can be treated through colonic resection.