Tumor of the rectum: symptoms, treatment, diagnosis
What is the rectum? The rectum is the terminal part of the large intestine, located in a small pelvis, which has a length of 15-20 cm. It performs the functions of the final formation of feces, their accumulation and excretion.
Tumors can be benign and malignant in nature.
To benign are:
- single and group polyps;
- is villous;
- diffuse polyposis( true and secondary pseudopolyposis);
- Vascular malformations.
Polyps
Polyp is a neoplasm from the epithelium of the rectal mucosa. Polyps are formed unevenly in different parts of the large intestine, in the rectum - in 18.8% of cases. Polyps are different in size, shape, structure. In the case of the appearance of these neoplasms, it is rather difficult to recognize the symptoms of a tumor of the rectum, since they are absent at an early stage.
Then bleeding, intestinal pain, unstable stool with an admixture of mucus may appear. The danger of polyps is that they can cause intestinal obstruction and are capable of degeneration into a malignant tumor.
Insect-like species
The peculiarity of this species is the difficulty of their diagnosis and treatment. In addition, the villous tumor of the rectum is quite often transformed into a cancerous formation. The nasal species has a round or elongated shape, usually a red-pink neoplasm with a velvety or small papillae surface. The name was received because of the villi covering its surface. According to the nature of the spread, the shape of the villous tumor is nodular and creeping.
The nodular form is more common, the tumor is located in the form of a node on a broad base or on a pedicle.
Collarbore is not localized in one place, but is spread over the mucosa and can inflict significant areas of it. The mucous membrane around the tumor remains unchanged.
Symptoms of villous tumors include mucus and blood excretion with feces, anemia on the background of general weakness.
Diffuse polyposis and secondary pseudopolyposis
Family polyposis is a hereditary disease. Most often it affects children and adolescents. Characterized by the formation of a large number of polyps on the mucosa predominantly the rectum.
The clinical picture is changeable. Symptoms: diarrhea with mucus and blood, intoxication of the body, fever.
Secondary pseudopolyposis associated with the emergence of so-called inflammatory polyps, which are formed against the background of lesions of the large intestine, for example, ulcerative colitis.
Benign and malignant tumors
In benign tumors, surgical treatment is indicated. Conduct an organ-preserving operation( only the tumor is cut off) and resection of the intestine with a polyp( part of the affected organ is removed).
Malignant tumor of the rectum - cancer. The causes of the disease are not sufficiently studied. There is a high risk of developing a cancerous tumor with diffuse polyposis( in 100% of cases) or villous( in 90% of cases).
In the early stages of the disease it is difficult to diagnose. Symptoms of a malignant tumor of a rectum often appear much later. Rectal cancer is a common disease - approximately 4-6% of all cancers of the human body.
Symptoms of colon cancer are conventionally divided into four groups.
- The first symptom is bleeding. In contrast to hemorrhoidal bleeding, bleeding in colorectal cancer precedes the stool, and does not follow it. Bleeding occurs in most patients.
- The following symptom is a violation in the functioning of the intestines, which manifest themselves in constipation, diarrhea, changes in the form of stool, incontinence of gases and feces, and tenesmus. After the act of defecation, patients do not feel relief, there is a feeling of a foreign body in the intestine.
- Pain sensations are the third symptom. Unfortunately, basically, painful sensations come already at the late stages of the disease.
- The fourth group of symptoms is a violation of the general condition of the patient: weakness, weight loss, anemia, fatigue. These signs are characteristic for the disease at a late stage and are indicators of organism intoxication.
Diagnosis is carried out by the method of rectoscopy, X-ray( with contrast enema) and computed tomography.
The main method of treatment is surgical. In addition, the combination of the surgical method with radiotherapy and chemotherapy gives good results.