These polyps found on the cervix are usually benign and can be removed quite easily by the consultant in the Outpatient Clinic, with an examination that is not dissimilar to having a smear taken. Sometimes, if the polyp is a little larger, your consultant may recommend that it is removed under general anaesthetic and sometimes with the aid of a telescope through the cervix called hysteroscopy.
Polyps sometimes occur on the endometrium, or lining of the womb, and they may be diagnosed from a pelvic ultrasound or possibly because you have experienced heavy or irregular bleeding, or sometimes with episodes of bleeding between periods, known as intermenstrual bleeding.
These polyps are usually benign but cannot be removed in the Outpatient Clinic. Instead they require a general anaesthetic and removal with a hysteroscope passed through the cervix. This is a straightforward procedure, carried out as a day case under general anaesthetic. If you have presented with heavy periods in conjunction with a polyp on the lining of the uterus and your family is complete, the consultant may suggest that you consider an endometrial ablation or resection procedure at the same time as removal of the polyp. This is a treatment that destroys the lining of the uterus and gives around a 50% chance that the periods will stop altogether; if they do not stop, they are usually very much lighter.
When polyps are present, either in the cervix or on the lining of the uterus and you have gone through your menopause, they may cause an episode of bleeding known as post-menopausal bleeding. This would require further investigation and treatment, usually with removal of the polyps through hysteroscopy.
Once removed, the polyps are always sent to a histopathologist to look at under the microscope but are usually benign.
