Spectrum of disease and outcome among patients with acute diverticulitis.

BACKGROUND: This study was designed to evaluate the natural history of patients admitted for acute diverticulitis. METHODS: Nine hundred and seventy-seven patients admitted to Oulu University Hospital for acute symptoms of diverticular disease during the 20-year period from 1986 to 2005 were identified using a database. RESULTS: Six hundred and ninety-five patients were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis and 282 for complicated diverticulitis. The patients admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis were younger than the others and 66% of them were admitted only once. The number of admissions preceding perforation was higher in the 1980s, and the number of admissions was unrelated to the degree of perforation or the outcome of the patients. The annual prevalence of sigmoid diverticular perforation increased from 2.6/100,000 in 1986 to 4.2/100,000 in 2005. Seventy (10%) of the 695 patients admitted for the first time for acute diverticulitis underwent urgent surgery during the same admission and 66 (9%) had elective surgery during a later admission. Overall hospital mortality was 2.3%, being 1% among those admitted for acute diverticulitis and 5.5% among those admitted for diverticular perforation. Two hundred and thirty-four (42%) of the 555 nonoperated patients with acute diverticulitis developed a recurrent episode of diverticulitis. The course of recurrent disease was similar to the primary episode. CONCLUSION: Two or more preceding admissions for acute diverticulitis do not warrant sigmoid resection after diverticulitis. Young patients do not have a greater risk of complicated diverticulitis than older ones.

Acute sigmoid diverticulitis in young patients.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The natural history of young patients admitted for acute diverticulitis in terms of the virulence of the disease and the need for surgical treatment has remained controversial. METHODOLOGY: One thousand eighty-one patients with acute diverticulitis admitted to our hospital from 1986 to 2006 were identified from a computer database and their clinical course was analysed Patients under or over 50 years of age were compared regarding uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis, the number of admissions, operative procedures performed, morbidity, mortality and recurrence of diverticulitis. RESULTS: Eighty-one percent of the patients aged under 50 years were admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis, whereas 36 % of the patients aged over 50 years were admitted for complicated diverticulitis (p = 0.001). Sixty-eight percent of the patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis and 79% of those admitted for diverticular perforation were admitted only once to our hospital. The male/female ratios of patients presenting with uncomplicated diverticulitis were 114/106 for patients aged under 50 years and 181/336 for patients aged over 50 years. The respective ratios for complicated diverticulitis were 36/17 and 111/179. Overall mortality for all the admitted patients was 2%, being 0% for patients aged under 50 years, 3% for patients aged over 50 years and 5% for those admitted for diverticular perforation. Recurrent symptoms of diverticulitis developed in 34% of the patients admitted the first time for acute diverticulitis and diverticular perforation occurred in 20% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: Young patients are more often admitted for uncomplicated diverticulitis than older patients. The course of the disease in patients aged less than 50 years is not more aggressive than in older patients.

Elective surgery for recurrent diverticulitis.

BACKGROUND/AIMS: After two documented episodes of uncomplicated diverticulitis, elective colon resection is recommended to prevent complications of the disease but the nature of symptoms in non-operated patients requires specification. METHODOLOGY: A detailed questionnaire concerning clinical variables was mailed to two hundred and sixty patients admitted into our hospital for symptoms of acute sigmoid diverticulitis between 1981 and 2002. One hundred and seventy-one patients (70 percent) answered the questions adequately. Based on the clinical symptoms reported by the patients on the questionnaires, three patient groups set up, i.e. patients treated non-operatively or operatively for recurrent diverticulitis and patients operated on for diverticular perforation. The results of the patients treated non-operatively were analyzed with special reference to readmissions and age. RESULTS: The need for treatment by a physician, the need for hospital treatment, the presence of abdominal cramps, the presence of febrile left lower abdominal pain, the need for antibiotics and the need for NSAIDs were more common in the patients treated non-operatively for recurrent diverticulitis. When the patients treated non-operatively for recurrent diverticulitis were compared in a logistic regression model in relation to the number of admissions, the need for treatment by a physician and the presence of left lower abdominal pain were significantly more common in the patients admitted twice or more often. The same variables remained significantly different when the patients admitted once or twice were compared. Age did not correlate with any of the variables tested. CONCLUSIONS: On the basis of our results, we recommend that patients with recurrent uncomplicated diverticulitis should be operated on after two documented episodes to reduce the symptoms of the patients.