Diverticular disease of the colon. Current concepts and management

Diverticular disease of the colon is being seen with increasing frequency. An acute complicated presentation of the disease occurs in a minority of patients. In contrast to a previous study in which we found that 70 per cent of patients had had prior episodes, our most recent study revealed that for nearly 50 per cent of the patients with acute diverticular disease a complicated attack was the initial manifestation of the disease. Because these patients are more likely to have concomitant medical problems, aggressive elective surgical management is appropriate. This approach is now associated with a mortality rate of less than 1 per cent in patients with uncomplicated disease. Even in patients with complicated active disease, a mortality rate of less than 4 per cent can be anticipated when bowel preparation can be achieved. In patients below the age of 55 resection is advocated after a single attack because the rate of recurrence in this group may be as high as 50 per cent. In the setting of stage I or stage II disease primary resection with anastomosis is safe and should be performed. Proximal colostomy formation may be carried out at the discretion of the surgeon if warranted by such local circumstances as contiguous inflammation or macroscopic contamination. For patients with stage III and stage IV disease end-colostomy with Hartmann closure of the rectum is the procedure of choice, although anastomosis with proximal stoma may prove to be an acceptable alternative. The morbidity and mortality rates associated with the classic three-stage approach are similar to those with two-stage management, but the latter is associated with a substantially shorter duration of hospitalization and disability. The best form of management of diverticular disease is prevention. It is appealing to embrace high-bulk dietary management as a prophylaxis based on current knowledge of pathophysiologic principles, but good prospective randomized data are not yet forthcoming.