Colonic diverticular disease: medical treatments for acute diverticulitis

Diverticula (mucosal outpouchings through the wall of the colon) are rare before the age of 40 years, after which prevalence increases steadily and reaches over 25% by 60 years. However, only 10% to 25% of affected people will develop symptoms such as lower abdominal pain. Recurrent symptoms are common, and 5% of people with diverticula eventually develop complications such as perforation, obstruction, haemorrhage, fistulae, or abscesses.

We conducted a systematic overview, aiming to answer the following clinical question: What are the effects of medical treatments for acute diverticulitis? We searched: Medline, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and other important databases up to August 2014 (Clinical Evidence overviews are updated periodically; please check our website for the most up-to-date version of this overview).

At this update, searching of electronic databases retrieved 193 studies. After deduplication and removal of conference abstracts, 75 records were screened for inclusion in the overview. Appraisal of titles and abstracts led to the exclusion of 37 studies and the further review of 38 full publications. Of the 38 full articles evaluated, four systematic reviews and one RCT were added at this update. We performed a GRADE evaluation for two PICO combinations

In this systematic overview, we categorised the efficacy for one comparison based on information about the effectiveness and safety of medical treatment (mesalazine, antibiotics [any] only) versus placebo or no treatment.