Note for re-examination after colon polyp removal

This is an automatically translated article.

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 benign tumors in the colon. However, if they continue to progress, they can become malignant, developing into cancer. Therefore, early detection and treatment of colon polyps with colon polypectomy will help prevent unpredictable risks later.

1. What are colon polyps?

Colon polyps are one or more tumors that appear abnormally on the surface, lumen, or wall of the large intestine. Most colon polyps are benign tumors. However, if the polyps continue to progress, they can cause many complications such as gastrointestinal bleeding, intestinal obstruction or even cancer. Therefore, when there are symptoms of abdominal pain, blood in the stool, the patient should go to the hospital to perform clinical examination, colonoscopy to detect and treat polyps promptly and effectively.

2. How to remove colon polyps?

To remove colon polyps, the patient is first prescribed to use an enema and drink about 3 liters of water to clean the colon. Next, the patient is anesthetized and taken to the operating room. Here, doctors will use specialized tools, remove polyps through surgical methods or endoscopic interventions. After removing polyps, depending on the size of the tumor, the number of polyps and the patient's health condition, the doctor will appoint the patient to be hospitalized for monitoring or monitoring at home.

3. Abnormal signs after colon polyp removal

Usually, after colon polyp removal surgery, the patient's health will gradually recover. With small polyps, the foot of the cut will usually heal on its own within a week. The polyps are larger in size, have a polyp loop before cutting, the cutting ring will leave the cut on its own after 5-7 days of the procedure.

However, if the patient encounters the following abnormal symptoms, they should go to the hospital immediately for timely treatment:
Abdominal pain, bleeding, rectal discharge in a large amount; Nausea, vomiting, fever, dizziness; Edema of the anal region; Cough, chest tightness, difficulty breathing; Abdominal distension or spasticity; Bloody stools or black stools.

4. Advice after removing colon polyps

In order to recover soon, prevent colon polyps from recurring, after being discharged from the hospital, patients need to adhere to the following tips:
After colon polyp removal, patients should not drive vehicles by themselves but should accompanied by a family member; Strictly follow the doctor's instructions in taking the drug; Rest more, avoid heavy work or exercise a lot after polyp removal; Eat soft, liquid, easy-to-digest food (preferably pureed porridge with vegetables in the first 3 days), then eat 5-6 small meals a day for easier digestion; Drink a lot of water, eat a lot of vegetables to soften stools, avoid constipation;

Do not use hot spicy food, greasy food; Limit straining when defecating; Do not use drugs that affect blood function such as aspirin, pain relievers containing naproxen or ibuprofen for 2 weeks after polyp removal unless directed by your doctor. Only paracetamol or acetaminophen should be used.

5. How long after colon polyp removal?

According to statistics, the chance of polyp recurrence since the first colon polyp removal is 25 - 30%. Especially the elderly, do not have a healthy diet and activities. Besides, after the polyp has been removed, the patient still needs to use some drugs to limit the recurrence of polyps. However, what medicine to use, how much and how long to use it all need to be prescribed by a specialist. Therefore, periodic re-examination is very necessary and important for monitoring, diagnosis, early detection of the risk of disease recurrence and timely and effective treatment orientation if necessary.
After colon polyp removal, patients should be monitored continuously, conducting colonoscopy once a year to detect new polyps (if any) or abnormalities in the digestive tract. Continued annual screening is the doctor's advice for colon polyp removal patients to take timely intervention measures if unusual signs appear.

6. Subjects who need to be screened for colon polyps

People over the age of 50 should have a colonoscopy, even if there are no symptoms. If after colonoscopy, the colon is completely normal, there are no polyps, then after 10 years, it is necessary to repeat the colonoscopy; For patients with colonoscopy with more than 3 ductal polyps, high-grade dysplasia, villous polyps or polyps with a size of 1cm, it is necessary to re-examine and endoscopy after 3 years; For patients when colonoscopy detects 1-2 ductal polyps, polyps less than 1cm in size, without high-grade dysplasia, they should be re-examined, colonoscopy after 5-10 years; People with a family history (parents, siblings and children) of colon cancer should have a colonoscopy for screening at the age of 40 or 10 years before the relative's age when colorectal cancer was detected; People with hemorrhagic ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease should have a colonoscopy every year from year 8 when total colon involvement is detected, or from year 12 if total lateral colon involvement is detected. left; People with familial polyposis should have a colonoscopy every year; For colon cancer patients who have not performed colonoscopy before surgery (due to emergency surgery for intestinal obstruction or semi-obstruction, the entire colon cannot be colonized), 3 to 6 months after surgery, a full colonoscopy should be performed to detect colon cancer. present polyps or cancer. If the endoscopic image is normal, the patient needs to have a repeat endoscopy at 1 year, 3 years and 5 years after surgery; For colorectal cancer patients who have undergone a full colonoscopy before surgery, the colonoscopy should be repeated at 1 year, 3 years and 5 years after surgery; For patients with rectal cancer, sigmoidoscopy should be performed every 3 to 6 months for the first 2 years. Re-examination after colon polyp removal and polyp screening, colon cancer has an important meaning in the prevention, early detection and timely and effective treatment of the disease. Patients should strictly follow the doctor's advice about the time of follow-up examination after colon polyp removal.
Colon cancer screening at Vinmec International General Hospital is the optimal choice for people at high risk of this disease. Vinmec is providing a Colon Cancer Screening and Early Detection Package, which includes a full range of tests according to international standard procedures allowing early detection of colon cancer even when there are no symptoms.
With nearly 20 years of working at Da Nang General Hospital in the field of gastrointestinal endoscopy - hepatobiliary disease, every year, Doctor Vo Thi Thuy Trang participates in endoscopy more than 1500 cases including: endoscopic diagnosis of diseases stomach, colon such as: detecting inflammation, ulcers, polyps, cancer, finding HP bacteria, detecting cancer early in the digestive tract...; Endoscopic treatment such as: Hemostasis in gastrointestinal bleeding, esophageal varices ligation in cirrhosis, endoscopic gastrointestinal polypectomy...

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