My Doctor Has Told Me I Need A Repeat Colonoscopy

Posted on Thu, 21 Feb 2019

Question: My doctor has told me i need a repeat colonoscopy in a year after finding and removing a .4 mm benign tubulovillous adenoma. Rest of exam was totally normal. This seems awfully soon to me?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Probably a colonoscopy is needed.

Detailed Answer:
Hello dear and welcome to ‘Ask A Doctor’ service. I have reviewed your query and here is my advice.

I understand your concern.

The colonoscopy is needed to check for a recurrence of adenoma.

Approximately one percent of adenoma with a diameter less than a centimeter are cancerous.

Patients who have adenomas are also at increased risk for developing cancer compared with patients without adenomas.

Hope I have answered your query. Let me know if I can assist you further.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad

Follow up: Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (3 hours later)

I guess my qustion is if the polyp was so small and benign with no evidence of high grade dysplasia, even though it had a villous component, and the rest of the exam normal, what are they thinking they could find in one year? Don't adenomas take a long time to grow?

Answered by Dr. Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi (15 hours later)

Brief Answer:
If the polyp is small we can postpone the colonoscopy for three years.

Detailed Answer:
Hi again dear,

If the polyp is small and the entire colon was well seen during your colonoscopy,in general, we recommend a repeat colonoscopy in three years.

So ,in this case you may ask a second opinion before doing the colonoscopy by another gastrologist.

Take care dear,

Dr.Dorina Gurabardhi

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Nagamani Ng