How can unreachable polyps be removed from a long colon (tortuous colon)?

[Daveo123]

I just got a regular colonoscopy (optical). My doctor could not complete the colonscopy due to my long colon. (I have a tortuous colon.) Here is my problem - he saw 3 polyps, but could only reach 1 of them to remove. He wants me to return for another optical colonoscopy, where he will "put me all the way under" (anesthesia), then attempt to remove the other 2 polyps he saw, then attempt to look at the rest of the colon and remove any more polyps. I am scared. Is there any other way to remove polyps, for those of us who have long (tortuous) colons? If NOT, this sounds like a  "death sentence" - or at least a lifetime of worrying if unreachable polyps will become cancerous. I've read that many people with tortuous colons have never found a doctor who could complete an optical colonoscopy. To summarize, what other ways (if any) are there to remove polyps from the colon?

[Morecambe]

If there are unreachable/unexcisable polyps that are obviously cancerous then I feel it may be worth asking whether a total colectomy could be the option of least risk.  A big operation indeed - but maybe if you are unlucky enough to develop colon cancer later in life then a colectomy might well be required - perhaps at that stage with a lower chance of survival compared to the present.  I am not preaching that this option is necessarily the right one - but I do feel that the question is relevant.

regards
Morecambe

[patient915]

Welcome to the gastroenterology community!  I would recommend getting another colonoscopy like your doctor recommonded.  Sometimes a doctor can get further on one colonoscopy than on another.  The only other way to remove the polyps would be through abdominal surgery, which would not be worth the risks of this.