A retrospective study of clinico-pathological characteristics of colonic polyps in adults seen at a tertiary care centre.

OBJECTIVE: To analyse morphological types, location in the large bowel and demographic characteristics of colonic polyps.

METHODS: The retrospective descriptive study was conducted at the Department of Pathology, Sultan Qaboos University Hospital, Muscat, Oman, and comprised biopsy specimens of colonic polyps from patients related to a two-year period from 2011 to 2012. Demographic data, types of polyps, anatomical location and grade of dysplasia were analysed. SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis.

RESULTS: There were 160 biopsy specimens from 143 patients. Of the patients, 91(63.6 %) were male and 52(36.4%) were female. The mean age was 55.27+-14.2 years. Of the 160 polyps, 37((23.1%) were in the rectum. The most common type was the adenomatous polyp in 88(55.0%) cases followed by hyperplastic polyps 51(31.9%) and inflammatory polyps 21(13.1%). Of the 88 adenomatous polyps, 23(26%) showed high-grade dysplasia.

CONCLUSIONS: The commonest colon polyp type was adenomatous polyp. Screening programmes, such as stool occult blood testing and colonoscopies, are recommended.