[Treatment of sigmoid diverticulitis]

Most patients, up to 75-80 percent, with anatomical diverticulosis will remain uncomplicated with a few symptoms. They might benefit of increasing their fruit and vegetable fibre intake and active movement. Advancing age of the Finnish population and decreasing daily consumption of dietary fibre led at the end of 1990' to increasing incidence of diverticle perforations. The annual mortality associated with diverticle perforation is as high as that following hip fracture. It has earlier been recommended that the patients aged under 50 years should be operated after recovery from one acute diverticulitis. However, at present younger patients seem not to be at an increased risk of complications. Elective operation after acute diverticulitis should be made on a case-by-case basis and operations should be restricted to the most symptomatic patients.