Colonoscopy following nonoperative management of uncomplicated diverticulitis may not be warranted

Following the nonoperative management of acute diverticulitis, guidelines recommend routine follow-up colonoscopy; however, evidence to support this recommendation are lacking.

This study aims to determine the diagnostic yield of endoscopy for clinically significant neoplasia following the successful nonoperative management of acute diverticulitis.

This study is a retrospective review.

This study was conducted in a large urban health region.

Adult patients who were admitted with a diagnosis of acute diverticulitis confirmed by CT and who were successfully managed nonoperatively to hospital discharge were included. Patients who underwent colonoscopy within 2 years of presentation were excluded.

The primary outcome measured was the incidence of clinically significant neoplasia (invasive malignancy or advanced adenoma) on follow-up endoscopy within 1 year of admission.

Four hundred fifty-eight patients were selected for analysis, of which 249 patients (54%) underwent endoscopy within 1 year of admission. Seventy-seven (30.9%) patients were found to have polyps, 19 (7.6%) patients had advanced adenomas, and 4 (1.6%) patients had an invasive malignancy; 23 patients (9.2%) were found to have clinically significant neoplasia. On subgroup analysis, patients presenting with complicated diverticulitis (n = 74) had a significantly higher incidence of advanced adenoma (18.9% vs 5%, p = 0.001) and invasive malignancy (5.4% vs 0%, p = 0.007) in comparison with patients who presented with uncomplicated diverticulitis (n = 175). On multivariate analysis, patient age (OR 1.04 (1.01-1.08), p = 0.02) and the presence of abscess (OR 4.15 (1.68-10.3), p = 0.002) were identified as significant risk factors for clinically significant neoplasia.

The use of retrospective data was a limitation of this study; 54% of selected patients underwent endoscopic follow-up.

The incidence of clinically significant neoplasia on endoscopic follow-up after the nonoperative management of acute diverticulitis is 9.2%. Those with complicated diverticulitis are at higher risk, whereas the incidence of clinically significant neoplasia in those with uncomplicated diverticulitis is equal to the incidence in average-risk individuals. Routine diagnostic colonoscopy following the nonoperative management of acute uncomplicated diverticulitis may not be warranted.