What Is A Colon Biopsy?

Perhaps one of the most overlooked systems in our body is our excretory system. We may not be paying much attention to it but our colon and all the other parts of our excretory system is primarily responsible for ridding our body of toxins and waste products. Naturally, if we fail to take good care of our colon, it will eventually fail. Different kinds of diseases can develop from an unhealthy colon and doctors might need to conduct colon biopsies to determine the proper method of treatment for diseases of the large intestine.

A colon biopsy refers to the removal and examination of tissues, cells, and/or fluids from the large intestine. A doctor might find growths in the large intestine during a colonoscopy biopsy and he might try to remove these growths or pieces of such growths. During an abdominal surgery, a doctor might also conduct a colonic biopsy.

Colon biopsies are usually performed when doctors suspect the presence of abnormal growths in the colon of a patient. These growths are also called polyps, which typically mark the benign stage of cancer. Some polyps can look more suspicious than the others due to their size, texture or color. A colon polyp biopsy can be performed on each of the growths as a preventive measure. It is also possible that a biopsy of the colon will show irregular tissues in the large intestine. In this case, further sampling and analysis might be required.

A biopsy of colon tissues involves the removal of polyps or abnormal cell growth. If you are troubled by the thought that a piece of your large intestine will be removed, you do not need to worry any further. Many of those who have undergone a colon polyps biopsy or colon cancer biopsy report that they have not felt a thing during the procedure. This is possible because the procedure is done on the innermost lining or wall of your large intestine (or the mucosa) which is particularly not sensitive to pain.

If your doctor recommends a biopsy of your large intestine and you are a bit worried of the outcome, you can actually expect the colon biopsy results in about a week’s time. Your doctor will need a sample of your colon tissue or fluid which will then be sent to a laboratory for analysis. The analysis will determine whether or not there are cancer cells present in the tissues of your large intestine.