Risk factors associated with recurrent hemorrhage after the initial improvement of colonic diverticular bleeding

We elucidated risk factors contributing to recurrent hemorrhage after initial improvement of colonic diverticular bleeding. 172 consecutive hospitalized patients diagnosed with colonic diverticular bleeding were analyzed. Recurrent hemorrhage after initial improvement of colonic diverticular bleeding is main outcome measure. We analyzed factors contributing to recurrent hemorrhage risk in univariate and multivariate analyses. The length of the observation period after improvement of colonic diverticular bleeding was 26.4 +/- 14.6 months (range, 1-79 months). The cumulative recurrent hemorrhage rate in all patients at 1 and 2 years was 34.8% and 41.8%, respectively. By univariate analysis, age > 70 years (P = 0.021), BMI > 25 kg/m2 (P = 0.013), the use of anticoagulant drugs (P = 0.034), the use of NSAIDs (P = 0.040), history of hypertension (P = 0.011), history of smoking (P = 0.030) and serum creatinine level > 1.5 mg/dL (P < 0.001) were found to be significant risk factors for recurrent colonic diverticular bleeding. By multivariate analysis, age > 70 years (Hazard ratio (HR), 1.905, 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.067-3.403, P = 0.029), history of hypertension (HR, 0.493, 95% CI, 0.245-0.993, P = 0.048) and serum creatinine level > 1.5 mg/dL (HR, 95% CI, 0.288-0.964, P = 0.044) were shown to be significant independent risk factors. Close observation after the initial improvement of colonic diverticular bleeding is needed, especially in elderly patients or patients with history of hypertension or renal deficiency.