HealthInfo Waitaha Canterbury
Bowel polyps are growths on the lining of your large bowel or rectum.
Most people with polyps do not have any symptoms. They only know they have polyps after an investigation such as a colonoscopy.
Your bowel can have different types of polyps. Most polyps are not cancer (benign) and do not grow into a cancer. But some polyps called adenomas are precancerous and can grow into a cancer if they are left alone. If we remove a precancerous polyp, we can prevent bowel cancer.
HealthInfo recommends the following pages
This page explains what causes bowel polyps, how you find out if you have them and how they are treated.
Written by HealthInfo clinical advisers. Last reviewed May 2024.
Review key: HIBOP-136659