Surgical problems of diverticula of the small intestine

During a 25 year period at this medical center and the UCLA Center for Health Science, we identified 34 patients who had jejunal or ileal pseudodiverticula. Seventeen of these were treated for a more significant pathologic condition, the diverticula being an incidental finding. Of the remaining 17 patients, six underwent an operation for complications of these diverticula; two of them had diverticulitis of the jejunum; two, a perforated ileal diverticulum, and two others, severe malabsorption. Another two patients had laboratory evidence of malabsorption attributed to the presence of the diverticula and were treated medically. In the remaining nine persons, four were diagnosed as having a functional bowel syndrome and five had undiagnosed abdominal pain. For the group of six patients undergoing an operation, there was a 50 per cent mortality. Our experience gives weight to the contention that, although jejunal and ileal diverticula are rare, in any collected experience with them, significant morbidity and mortality accompanies the complications.