The American Cancer Association annually publishes statistics that allow analyzing cases of transformation of benign neoplasms of the gastrointestinal mucosa into malignant tumors. Studies have shown that in 10% of cases, forty-five-year-old men were diagnosed with similar problems, and only 1% of the polyp of the colon went to cancer. Early diagnosis can prevent transformation and achieve complete recovery in 84% of cases. Therefore, it is so important to know why they appear, how they manifest themselves, what polyps in the large intestine are most dangerous, what tests should be performed when the first symptoms are detected.
The International Classification of ICD 10 classifies polyps of the colon to grade 11, they have the ICD code 10 K55-K63.
What contributes to the formation of large intestine polyps?
What is a polyp of the large intestine is well known. It is a fleshy growth, it looks like a mushroom, has a flat or convex head and a leg, by means of which it clings tightly to the walls of the mucous membrane. Compared with other departments, the large intestine has thicker walls, so the polyps are formed more often than in the thin section. The reasons for this process can be different:
- Firstly, the premature aging of the mucous organ can provoke the described problems, and it occurs when the history of chronic inflammatory processes or hereditary predisposition is indicated.
- Secondly, the epithelial cells of the mucosa are renewed daily, the old ones die, they are replaced by new ones. Therefore, the layer of the shell easily resists the aggressive effects of carcinogens, trapped in the housing and communal services together with food, as well as metabolic products of stool. When the update occurs unevenly, an outgrowth is formed.
These and other reasons( until the end have not yet been studied), become the starting point for the formation of polyps in the large intestine. They can be single or multiple( polyposis), large or small, neoplasms can have different shapes and structures. It is the histological structure that allows the classification of the polyps of the rectosigmoid part of the large intestine or of any other department.
Types of colon polyps
In the international disease registry there is a clear classification of benign neoplasms of the large intestine. They can be divided into three types:
- Adenomas.
- Juvenile.
- Hyperplastic neoplasm.
Polyposis of the large intestine is considered very dangerous. His treatment is associated with surgical intervention, with a complex subsequent rehabilitation period, so it is so important to begin to sound the alarm in time and take certain steps to complete recovery. It is in the large intestine that the adenomas usually settle - benign polyps that can be transformed into cancer tumors. Adenomas are morphologically divided into three subspecies. They are:
- Glandular( tubular).
- Glandular-villous( tubulo-villelic).
- Insecticides.
The glandular polyp of the large intestine is externally similar to a fungus with a length of a high leg. He always has a stroma, and all the glands are properly constructed. The color of the mushroom cap is close to the color of the mucosa, but unlike it has a more dense structure. Such neoplasms never bleed and are never expressed, therefore at the first stages they do not show themselves.
The thick poly intestine polyp has larger dimensions( from 2 cm or more), it feels soft to the touch, it easily starts to bleed when touched. These signs indicate that the villous subspecies of the adenoma develops. With severe dysplasia, the structure of the glands is disrupted, the fibers of the epithelium increase in size, they lose their shape, the goblet cells disappear, the outgrowth becomes like the surface of a raspberry berry.
Tubulo-viseular polyps of the large intestine have signs of glandular and villous neoplasms. Their shape is similar to the orange slice. It is this species that poses the greatest danger. And all because similar neoplasms are four times more likely to transform into cancer than other types of polyps of the large intestine. The surface of such an adenoma looks like a fluffy carpet, "to the touch" it is soft, like fluff.
Colonic juvenile polyps
The juvenile type of formation is most often diagnosed in children, they are found in adults, but they are formed precisely in childhood and then "live" for many years in the area of the rectosigmoid department, or in any other part of the colon. The juvenile type of polyps refers to benign tumors that grow from embryonic tissue debris. They have the most developed not the head, but the stroma, which becomes the continuation of the mucous layer of the hollow organ.
Unlike adenomas, juvenile types of polyps of the large intestine have a gropinglike shape, they are also lobed, but their surface is always smooth and shiny. Neoplasms are located on a very thin long leg, sometimes it is twisted and necrotic, so the juvenile polyp can be rejected by itself. This process is accompanied by bleeding.
Hyperplastic polyps of the large intestine
Hyperplastic neoplasms most often "settle" in the remote parts of the colon, in its distal part. Externally, they are similar to small( up to 5 mm) plaques, which in color coincide with the color of the mucosa. Hyperplastic growths have no malignant potential.
There is a classification of benign neoplasms and the multiplicity factor. Single polyps are easier to treat. When a cluster of several neoplasms is detected, a polyposis of the large intestine is diagnosed. It can affect one, for example, the rectosigmoid department. Treatment of it is reduced to resection of the affected area. Multiple manifestations can not only group, there are cases when neoplasms are literally scattered throughout the body. And here the treatment is most difficult.
The clinical picture of colon polyps
Many patients live a normal full life and do not even suspect that they have a polyp in the large intestine, the danger is precisely that the described processes proceed practically without bright characteristic symptoms. They are detected only with a planned endoscopic examination or in the diagnosis of other gastrointestinal diseases.
However, when the polyp of the large intestine becomes large, grows to the size of 3 or more centimeters, the patient has a bloody discharge with each defecation. Sometimes, instead of blood goes mucus, it becomes a witness of the presence of an inflammatory process. Together with these symptoms, there are other signs. It is a pain in the abdomen, which spreads and leaves into the anus. Prolonged constipation or diarrhea, anal itching, dysproteinemia, water-electrolyte imbalance, anemia, the phenomenon of complete or partial obstruction - the appearance of even one symptom should alert and make go to the proctologist. The combination of all the symptoms already speaks of the development of polyposis.
Options for diagnosing colon polyps
On the first examination, the proctologist will carefully listen to the patient and hold a finger examination of the rectum. With the help of the hand it is possible to examine the first ten centimeters from the anus. The first thirty centimeters are viewed with the help of a sigmoidoscope. The endoscope is used to detect polyps of the rectosigmoid part of the colon and other upper parts of the colon. Only with the help of it can you see the entire affected polyposis area of the intestine.