Colonoscopic polypectomy in children.

Three children, 30 to 36 months of age, had solitary juvenile polyps in the sigmoid colon and rectal bleeding of varying severity, In all three patients, the polyps were removed without the use of general anesthesia through a standard 100-cm colonoscope used to examine adult patients. No untoward effects were encountered. Colonoscopic polypectomy is an effective therapeutic procedure and obviates the need for either anxious waiting in the mildly symptomatic patient or colotomy and polypectomy in the child with profuse rectal bleeding.