These risks exist | How to remove colon polyps

These risks exist

For uncomplicated polyps, the removal does not take very long. A normal colonoscopy takes about 15 minutes to half an hour. However, the duration of the procedure also varies depending on the number of polyps to be removed.

If the removal is more complicated, the procedure will take longer. If a polyp has to be removed surgically, the operation may take a certain amount of time, depending on the extent of the polyp, but this is difficult to determine. A surgeon who performs this procedure regularly has experience and can estimate the approximate duration of the procedure.

Duration of hospital stay

When removing polyps during a colonoscopy, no hospital stay is normally necessary. However, if problems occur during this procedure and an emergency operation has to be performed, a hospital stay of a few days becomes necessary. In the case of an operation to remove polyps, which was planned in advance, a short hospital stay is also necessary in order to detect complications early on.

Can this also be done on an outpatient basis?

Outpatient removal of polyps is possible if removal is most likely associated with a low risk of complications. This is the case if the polyps are small and do not grow into the intestinal wall. A further obstacle for the outpatient removal of polyps is that the number of polyps is too large. In this case, surgical removal is more likely to be performed, which is associated with an inpatient stay.

After-treatment – This is to be observed

The required follow-up after colon polyp removal depends on whether malignant cancer cells were found during the examination of the adenoma. In general, people who were once diagnosed with a polyp are more likely to develop polyps again. Therefore, these individuals require more frequent colonoscopies than the general population.

If no malignant cells were detected during the examination of the polyp, a colonoscopy is performed again after 3-5 years. However, if malignant cells were detected, a colonoscopy must be performed again after only six months. In this colonoscopy it is checked whether cancer cells were left behind and whether the disease has progressed. If this is not the case, the intervals between colonoscopies will increase again.