Digestion Q&A by Dr. Lee

Answer:

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Lipomas (benign tumors consisting of fat) are benign, that is, they are not cancerous. If the pathologist (the doctor who examines the polyp) is confident that the polyp is a lipoma, no further tests or surveillance will be necessary.

When to perform the next colonoscopy after removal of two non-cancerous, non-lipomatous polyps depends on several issues:

1. The size of the polyps.
2. The Completeness of the excision.
3. The degree of atypia in the cells that make up the polyps. (Atypia is a term pathologists use to describe cells that appear to be in the process of turning cancerous.)
4. The quality of the colon preparation and visualization.

For example, if one or both polyps were large and not completely excised, your doctor may ask you to have repeat colonoscopy within weeks to months. On the other hand, if the polyps were small (less than 1 cm), completely excised, and did not have significant atypia, the doctor may ask you to have surveillance colonoscopy in five years.

If the colon preparation was poor and there was too much residual stool in the colon for good visualization, the doctor may ask you to have a repeat colonoscopy to make sure there are no more polyps.

Thank you for your question.