Symptoms of polyps include nasal congestion, sinusitis, loss of smell, thick nasal discharge, facial pressure, nasal speech, and mouth breathing. Recurrent sinusitis can result from polyps. Long-term, nasal polyps can cause destruction of the nasal bones and widening of the nose.

As polyps grow larger, they eventually prolapse into the nasal cavity resulting in symptoms. The most prominent symptoms of nasal polyps result blockage of the nasal passage.

People with nasal polyps due to aspirin intolerance often have symptoms known as Samter's triad, which consists of asthma worse with aspirin, a skin rash caused by aspirin, and chronic nasal polyps.

A cervical polyp is a common benign polyp or tumor on the surface of the cervical canal. They can cause irregular menstrual bleeding or increased pain but often show no symptoms.

Most polyps do not cause noticeable symptoms. Gallbladder polyps are usually found incidentally when examining the abdomen by ultrasound for other conditions, usually abdominal pain.

Colorectal polyps are not usually associated with symptoms. When they occur, symptoms include rectal bleeding, bloody stools, abdominal pain and fatigue. A change in bowel habits may occur including constipation and diarrhoea. Occasionally, if a polyp is big enough to cause a bowel obstruction, there may be nausea, vomiting and severe constipation.

Nasal polyps are polypoidal masses arising mainly from the mucous membranes of the nose and paranasal sinuses. They are overgrowths of the mucosa that frequently accompany allergic rhinitis. They are freely movable and nontender.

The most common general classification is:

- hyperplastic,

- neoplastic (adenomatous & malignant),

- hamartomatous and,

- inflammatory.

Nasal polyps (NP) are noncancerous growths within the nose or sinuses. Symptoms include trouble breathing through the nose, loss of smell, decreased taste, post nasal drip, and a runny nose. The growths are sac-like, movable, and nontender, though face pain may occasionally occur. They typically occur in both nostrils in those who are affected. Complications may include sinusitis and broadening of the nose.

The exact cause is unclear. They may be related to chronic inflammation of the lining of the sinuses. They occur more commonly among people who have allergies, cystic fibrosis, aspirin sensitivity, or certain infections. The polyp itself represents an overgrowth of the mucous membranes. Diagnosis may occur by looking up the nose. A CT scan may be used to determine the number of polyps and help plan surgery.

Treatment is typically with steroids, often in the form of a nasal spray. If this is not effective surgery may be considered. The condition often recurs following surgery, thus continued use of a steroid nasal sprays is often recommended. Antihistamines may help with symptoms but do not change the underlying disease. Antibiotics are not required for treatment unless an infection occurs.

About 4% of people currently have nasal polyps while up to 40% of people develop them at some point in their life. They most often occur after the age of 20 and are more frequent in males than females. Nasal polyps have been described since at least the time of the Ancient Egyptians.

Gallbladder polyps are growths or lesions resembling growths (polypoid lesions) in the wall of the gallbladder. True polyps are abnormal accumulations of mucous membrane tissue that would normally be shed by the body. The main types of polypoid growths of the gallbladder include cholesterol polyp/cholesterosis, cholesterosis with fibrous dysplasia of gallbladder, adenomyomatosis, hyperplastic cholecystosis, and adenocarcinoma.

Age of onset is variable. The term 'Juvenile' in the title of Juvenile polyposis syndrome refers to the histological type of the polyps rather than age of onset.

Affected individuals may present with rectal bleeding, abdominal pain, diarrhea or anemia. On colonoscopy or sigmoidoscopy polyps that vary in shape or size are present. The polyps can be sessile or pedunculated hamartomatous polyps.

Juvenile polyposis syndrome is a syndrome characterized by the appearance of multiple juvenile polyps in the gastrointestinal tract. Polyps are abnormal growths arising from a mucous membrane. These usually begin appearing before age 20, but the term "juvenile" refers to the type of polyp, not to the age of the affected person. While the majority of the polyps found in Juvenile Polyposis Syndrome are non-neoplastic, hamartomatous, self-limiting and benign, there is an increased risk of adenocarcinoma.

Solitary juvenile polyps most commonly occur in the rectum and present with rectal bleeding. The World Health Organization criteria for diagnosis of juvenile polyposis syndrome are one of either:

1. More than five juvenile polyps in the colon or rectum; or

2. Juvenile polyps throughout the gastrointestinal tract; or

3. Any number of juvenile polyps in a person with a family history of juvenile polyposis.

Adenomyomatosis is caused by an overgrowth of the mucosa, thickening of the muscular wall, and formation of intramural diverticula or sinus tracts termed Rokitansky-Aschoff sinuses.

Adenomyomatosis is a benign condition characterized by hyperplastic changes of unknown cause involving the wall of the gallbladder.

Cervical polyps often show no symptoms. Where there are symptoms, they include intermenstrual bleeding, abnormally heavy menstrual bleeding (menorrhagia), vaginal bleeding in post-menopausal women, bleeding after sex and thick white vaginal or yellowish discharge (leukorrhoea).

SSAs, generally, are asymptomatic. They are typically identified on a colonoscopy and excised for a definitive diagnosis and treatment.

Anal carcinoma is much less common than colorectal cancer. The most common form is squamous cell carcinoma, followed by adenocarcinoma and melanoma. SCC usually occurs in the anal canal, and more rarely on the anal margin. Anal margin SCC presents as a lesion with rolled, everted edges and central ulceration. Symptoms include a painful lump, bleeding, pruritus ani, tenesmus, discharge or possibly fecal incontinence. SSC in the anal canal most commonly causes bleeding, but may also cause anal pain, a lump, pruritus ani, discharge, tenesmus, change in bowel habits and fecal incontinence. Because these symptoms are so unspecific, and because symptoms of anal carcinoma may not always be typical, this can lead to delays in diagnosis.

Rare neoplasms at this site that can give rise to discharge include Paget's disease (which is possibly a type of adenocarcinoma) and verrucous carcinoma.

Patients usually present with otorrhea, conductive hearing loss, and otalgia, while bleeding and a sensation of a mass are much less common.

Inflammatory fibroid polyp, abbreviated IFP, is a benign abnormal growth of tissue projecting into the lumen of the gastrointestinal tract.

Although imaging is not required to yield a diagnosis, it may be obtained to exclude other disorders, such as a concurrent cholesteatoma.

SSAs are diagnosed by their microscopic appearance; histomorphologically, they are characterized by (1) basal dilation of the crypts, (2) basal crypt serration, (3) crypts that run horizontal to the basement membrane (horizontal crypts), and (4) crypt branching. The most common of these features is basal dilation of the crypts.

Unlike traditional colonic adenomas (e.g. tubular adenoma, villous adenoma), they do not (typically) have nuclear changes (nuclear hyperchromatism, nuclear crowding, elliptical/cigar-shaped nuclei).

Solitary rectal ulcer syndrome

Colitis cystical profunda

Internal intussusception

Mucosal prolapse

Rectal prolapse

Villous adenoma is a type of polyp that grows in the colon and other places in the gastrointestinal tract and sometimes in other parts of the body. These adenomas may become malignant (cancerous). Villous adenomas have been demonstrated to contain malignant portions in about one third of affected persons, and invasive malignancy in another one third of removed specimens. Colonic resection may be required for large lesions. These can also lead to secretory diarrhea with large volume liquid stools with few formed elements. They are commonly described as secreting large amounts of mucus, resulting in hypokalaemia in patients. On endoscopy a "cauliflower' like mass is described due to villi stretching. Being an adenoma, the mass is covered in columnar epithelial cells.

A cervical polyp is a common benign polyp or tumour on the surface of the cervical canal. They can cause irregular menstrual bleeding but often show no symptoms. Treatment consists of simple removal of the polyp and prognosis is generally good. About 1% of cervical polyps will show neoplastic change which may lead to cancer. They are most common in post-menarche, pre-menopausal women who have been pregnant.

IFPs consist of spindle cells that are concentrically arranged around blood vessels and have inflammation, especially eosinophils.

They may have leiomyoma/schwannoma-like areas with nuclear palisading.

They typically stain with CD34 and vimentin, and, generally, do not stain with CD117 and S100.

The endoscopic differential diagnosis includes other benign, pre-malignant and malignant gastrointestinal polyps.

From early adolescence, patients with this condition gradually (and much of the time 'silently') develop hundreds to thousands of colorectal polyps (and sometimes polyps elsewhere)—small abnormalities at the surface of the intestinal tract, especially in the large intestine including the colon or rectum. These may bleed, leading to blood in the stool. If the blood is not visible, it is still possible for the patient to develop anemia due to gradually developing iron deficiency. If malignancy develops, this may present with weight loss, altered bowel habit, or even metastasis to the liver or elsewhere. FAP can also develop 'silently' in some individuals, giving few or no signs until it has developed into advanced colorectal cancer.

Because familial polyposis develops very gradually over years, and can also manifest in an 'attenuated' form even more gradually, polyps resulting from FAP can lead to cancer developing at any point from adolescence to old age.

Depending on the nature of the defect in the APC gene, and whether it is the full or attenuated form, familial polyposis may manifest as polyps in colon or in the duodenal tract, or in any combination of these. Therefore, an absence of polyps in, for example, the rectum, may not of itself be sufficient to confirm absence of polyps. It may be necessary to consider and visually examine other possible parts of the intestinal tract. Colonoscopy is preferred over sigmoidoscopy for this, as it provides better observation of the common right-side location of polyps.

The genetic determinant in familial polyposis may also predispose carriers to other malignancies, e.g., of the duodenum and stomach (particularly ampullary adenocarcinoma). Other signs that may point to FAP are pigmented lesions of the retina ("CHRPE—congenital hypertrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium"), jaw cysts, sebaceous cysts, and osteomata (benign bone tumors). The combination of polyposis, osteomas, fibromas and sebaceous cysts is termed "Gardner's syndrome" (with or without abnormal scarring).

The colorectal adenoma is a benign glandular tumor of the colon and the rectum. It is a precursor lesion of the colorectal adenocarcinoma (colon cancer).

Some morphological variants have been described:

- tubular adenoma

- tubulovillous adenoma

- villous adenoma

- sessile serrated adenoma (SSA)