What Is a Polyp Operation?

A polyp operation may be necessary to remove unwanted polyps from various places in the human body. It is possible to develop a polyp, which is usually a benign growth, on any mucous membrane, though they are most commonly found in the digestive tract, nasal cavity, bladder or, in women, the uterus. Removing a polyp is usually a simple procedure, though polyps that are deep within the body, such as those in the stomach, may require a more complex polyp operation. Polyps are biopsied after they are removed to determine whether they are cancerous.

In the nasal and sinus cavities, a polyp operation is only necessary when medical treatments fail to rid the patient of the growth. Polyps that are easily accessible can be removed with a suction device. Those that are further inside these cavities may require that the doctor use an endoscope to view the interior of the cavity. Cutting or suction instruments can then be fed into the cavity so that the polyp operation can be completed. Both of these simple operations are done under local anesthetic, and the patient is able to return home as soon as the procedure is complete.

Patients who have stomach polyps are often unaware of their presence and they are usually only found incidentally. If a doctor discovers one of these polyps during another operation, it may be removed at that time. A separate operation to remove a stomach polyp may be advised if the doctor determines that it might increase a patient’s risk of developing cancer in the future. Most of the time, a stomach polyp operation can be performed using an endoscope that is inserted into the patient’s digestive tract.

Polyps found in the urinary bladder usually need to be removed. A cytoscope is used to help the doctor see the progress of the polyp operation. It is possible to cut these polyps out of the bladder or to burn them off with electrical current. The electricity kills off the cells in the polyp and prevents it from returning.

A uterine polyp can also be removed using a relatively quick and simple procedure. The woman’s cervix is dilated, and specialized tools are fed into the uterus, allowing the doctor to see and cut out the polyps. This type of polyp operation does not usually affect a woman’s reproductive abilities, and the polyps are not often indicative of cancer, though they need to be biopsied in order to rule this out definitively.