colon

Can the minimal invaseve surgery be used to remove pulyps from colon that are too big to remove dureing colon op exam.  And is it rutinely used.             ***@****

[Fernando Roque, MD]

Hi.  Colonic polyps are usually removed by surgical excision through the use of a flexible colonoscope (a flexible tube containing instruments used for viewing the inside of the colon and for taking biopsy samples). It's rare to have polyps which are too big to be handled by colonoscopy, but if this happens, open abdominal surgery can be done to perform the polyp excision.