The Prevalence and Histopathological Types of Colonic Polyps Removed during Colonoscopy in Tertiary Hospital Center: A four-year Retrospective Study

Abstract Background: Colonic polyps can be classified endoscopically as sessile (flat lesion) and pedunculated (a lesion with a stalk); however, the most important classification for treatment and prognosis is the histopathological one which divides polyps into adenomatous, serrated, juvenile/retention, inflammatory, mucosal, and hamartomatous polyps. Objective: The aim of this study is to detect the prevalence and types of colonic polyps removed during colonoscopic examination with their clinicopathological characteristics. Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study was performed to analyze the histopathological reports of 6364 colonoscopic biopsies received in the Pathology Laboratory at the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Teaching Hospital, Medical City/Baghdad/Iraq from January 1, 2020, to December 31, 2023. Results: The prevalence of colonic polyps detected during colonoscopies was 15.79% (1005/6364) which included 600 males and 405 females with mean age of 46.22 ± 19.002. The most common type was adenomatous polyp (49.9%). Other types are as follows: serrated polyp 20%, juvenile/retention polyp 13.7%, inflammatory polyp 11.3%, mucosal polyp 1.8%, hamartomatous polyp 1.8%, and others 1.5%. Conclusion: Colonic polyps are a common finding in patients undergoing colonoscopy. The most common type is adenomatous polyps (premalignant lesions). This type is common in the elderly men and is often large in size.