Sociodemographic, clinical and histological characterization of patients with endoscopic findings of colorectal polyps, treated in the gastroenterology service of the Departmental University Hospital of Pasto, Nariño, Colombia, in the period 2017-2022

Abstract

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most diagnosed cancer in women and the third in men worldwide. In Nariño - Colombia, it represents a high mortality burden, constituting in Pasto, it’s capital, the fourth cause of death  Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the second most diagnosed cancer in women and the third in men worldwide. In Nariño - Colombia, it represents a high mortality burden, constituting in Pasto, it’s capital, the fourth cause of death by malignant neoplasm. Despite this, there is no sociodemographic, clinical, and histological information available on the Nariño population with endoscopic findings of CRC precursor lesions, such as colorectal polyps. This observational, descriptive, retrospective, cross-sectional study aims to characterize sociodemographically, clinically and histologically the patients with endoscopic findings of colorectal polyps treated in the gastroenterology service of the Departmental University Hospital of Nariño Pasto - Colombia, in the period 2017-2022.

An initial database corresponding to 1861 lower digestive tract endoscopies performed on 1751 patients was obtained. In 284 patients, a finding of CRC and/or colorectal polyp was evidenced. Two groups of patients to be characterized were defined: 90 with CRC findings and 212 with colorectal polyps. Of the 90 patients diagnosed with CRC, 63.3 % were women, the mean age was 64.3 years, the most frequent location of the lesion was the rectum, with 44.4 %, and the histopathological diagnosis with the highest proportion was moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma. with 35.6 %. In the 212 patients with colorectal polyps, the dis- tribution by gender was very similar (M: 50.9 %; H: 49.1 %), the average age was 61.04 years. The total number of documented polyps was 276, of which 255 were extracted for biopsy, the most frequent polyp being adenomatous with 51.4 % and a low grade of dysplasia being reported more frequently in these (62.6 %).