Risk of Recurrence of Colon Polyps

At Wood Veterans Administration Center, 268 patients who had a polypectomy have been followed up to 20 years with semiannual proctosigmoidoscopic and barium enema examinations. For the present review of benign polyp disease, patients having coexisting carcinoma, chronic inflammatory disease, and those lost to followup have been excluded; 154 patients followed for a mean of 7 years comprise the study group. Thirty per cent of patients developed recurrent polyps. The risk of recurrence during the first year was 16 times that expected in a population of similar age and sex, but thereafter diminished steadily. After 48 months risk of polyp recurrence was little higher than the incidence expected in a normal population. Neither patient age, presenting symptoms nor the site or size of the initial polyp(s) were of any prognostic value regarding recurrence. Patients presenting with a villous adenoma or with more than 3 polyps had a significantly increased risk of recurrence may persist indefinitely. The overall incidence of colonic carcinoma may have been increased, but the location of subsequent cancer was not related to the site of a previously excised polyp.