diverticulitis
Sign in to saveKey facts
- Medical condition.caption
- Section of the large bowel (sigmoid colon) showing multiple pouches (diverticula). The diverticula appear on either side of the longitudinal muscle bundle (taenium), which runs horizontally across the specimen in an arc.
- Medical condition.field
- General surgery
- Medical condition.symptoms
- Abdominal pain, fever, nausea, diarrhea, constipation, blood in the stool
- Medical condition.complications
- Abscess, fistula, bowel perforation
- Medical condition.onset
- Sudden, age > 50
- Medical condition.causes
- Uncertain
- Medical condition.risks
- Obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, family history, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
- Medical condition.diagnosis
- Blood tests, CT scan, colonoscopy, lower gastrointestinal series
- Medical condition.differential
- Irritable bowel syndrome
- Medical condition.prevention
- Mesalazine, rifaximin
- Medical condition.treatment
- Antibiotics, liquid diet, hospital admission
- Medical condition.frequency
- 3.3% (developed world)
- Medical condition.name
- Diverticulitis
- Medical condition.synonyms
- Colonic diverticulitis
- Medical condition.image
- Diverticula, sigmoid colon.jpg
via Wikipedia infobox
Article
31 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Complications
- Causes and prevention
- Factors associated with increased diverticulitis risk
- Genetics
- Presence of other ill-health
- Frequency of bowel movement
- Weight
- Diet
- Pathology
- Diagnosis
- Classification by severity
- Uncomplicated vs complicated
- Classification systems
- Smoldering diverticulitis
- Differential diagnoses
- Prognosis
- Treatment
- Diet
- Medication
- Antibiotics
- Mesalamine
- Surgery
- Technique
- Approach
- Maneuvers
- Bowel resection with colostomy
- Prophylactic endoscopic clipping
- Epidemiology
- References
- External links
Diverticulitis, also called colonic diverticulitis, is a gastrointestinal disease characterized by inflammation of abnormal pouches—diverticula—that can develop in the wall of the large intestine. Symptoms typically include lower abdominal pain of sudden onset, but the onset may also occur over a few days. There may also be nausea, diarrhea or constipation. Fever or blood in the stool suggests a complication. People may experience a single attack, repeated attacks, or ongoing "smoldering" diverticulitis.
The causes of diverticulitis are unclear. Risk factors may include obesity, lack of exercise, smoking, a family history of the disease, and use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs). The role of a low fiber diet as a risk factor is unclear. Having pouches in the large intestine that are not inflamed is known as diverticulosis. Inflammation occurs in 10% and 25% at some point in time and is due to a bacterial infection. Diagnosis is typically by CT scan. However, blood tests, colonoscopy, or a lower gastrointestinal series may also be supportive. The differential diagnoses include irritable bowel syndrome.