How to check rectal polyps?

For many diseases, in addition to symptoms, the most accurate way is to check. Rectal polyps are a common clinical disease, and special examinations are required to confirm the diagnosis. The examination for rectal polyps mainly involves some anal examination. For unexplained symptoms, a colonoscopy can be performed.

1. Visual examination of the anus: The patient lies on his side or in a prone position. The doctor separates the patient's buttocks with both hands and first checks the area around the anus from the outside to see if there are any prolapsed internal hemorrhoids, prolapsed polyps, prolapsed rectum, external hemorrhoids, or external openings of fistulas. The patient is then asked to hold his breath as if he were defecating. The doctor pulls the anal margin with his hand to open the anus naturally and observes the location, number, size, color, and presence of bleeding spots of hemorrhoids and polyps, as well as any anal fissures.

2. Anorectal digital examination: The patient lies on his side or in a prone position and takes a deep breath to relax the anus. The doctor uses the right index finger with a glove or cot, applies lubricant, and gently inserts it into the anus for palpation examination. It can detect any abnormal changes in the anal canal and lower rectum, such as hardening of the skin or mucosa, fluctuation, nodules, stenosis, and sphincter tension. If you feel a sense of fluctuation when touched, it is often seen in perianal abscesses; if you touch a soft, smooth, movable, pedunculated elastic mass, it is mostly a rectal polyp; if you feel an uneven nodule that is hard and wide in bottom, adhered to the underlying tissue and cannot be pushed, and there is brown blood on the finger glove, you should consider rectal cancer; if inserting a finger causes severe anal pain, it may be anal fissure and you should not force it. If there is mucus, pus or blood on the finger sleeve after digital examination, it should be sent to the laboratory for examination if necessary. Digital rectal examination is very important in anorectal examination and can often detect lesions in the lower rectum, anal canal and around the anus at an early stage.

3. Anoscopy: The patient takes a side-lying or saddle-like position. First, put the anoscope cover and the plug together, apply lubricant, ask the patient to breathe with mouth open, and then slowly insert it into the anus. It should be inserted in the ventral direction first, and then pushed toward the coccyx after passing through the anal canal. After the anoscope is fully inserted, remove the plug. Under the light, carefully observe the color of the mucosa, whether there are ulcers or polyps, and then slowly withdraw the anoscope to the vicinity of the dentate line to check for internal hemorrhoids, internal opening of anal fistula, hypertrophy of anal papillae, anal cryptitis, etc.

4. Except for cases of anal stenosis and women during menstruation, sigmoidoscopy can be performed when there is suspicion of rectal and sigmoid colon diseases. It is especially important for the early diagnosis of rectal and sigmoid colon tumors. For unexplained blood in the stool, mucus in the stool, blood and pus in the stool, chronic diarrhea, anorectal pain, and deformed stool, sigmoidoscopy should be used to confirm the diagnosis.