PURPOSE: Children with acute colonic diverticulitis(ACD), can be misdiagnosed with acute appendicitis. METHODS: We reviewed 15 cases of ACD during five years, from January 1998 to June 2002 retro spectively. RESULTS: Most patients(80%) with ACD in children presented with right lower quadrant pain. The primary diagnosis on admission was mostly acute appendicitis(87%), and all ACD in children occurred in the right colon. Fourteen patients were managed by conservative treatment including antibiotics. A follow-up study was performed in 15 patients. There were symptomatic recurrences in two patients, but no significant complication was noted. The frequency of ACD was 11.7 per 1000 acute appendicitis. CONCLUSION: ACD in children can mostly be cured by conservative treatment. It is prudent to choose the management through the diagnostic work up, including abdominal sonography and computed tomography, because there was no significant difference of clinical findings between ACD and acute appendicitis.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendicitis ; Child* ; Colon* ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic* ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Recurrence

BACKGROUND/AIMS: There is limited data to compare the clinical characteristics and recurrence rates between left-sided primary epiploic appendagitis (PEA) versus left-sided acute colonic diverticulitis (ACD), and right-sided PEA versus right-sided ACD, respectively.METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and radiologic images of the patients who presented with left-sided or right-sided acute abdominal pain and had computer tomography performed at the time of presentation showing radiological signs of PEA or ACD between January 2004 and December 2014. We compared the clinical characteristics of left PEA versus left ACD and right PEA versus right ACD, respectively.RESULTS: Fifty-six patients (left:right = 27:29) and 308 patients (left:right = 24:284) were diagnosed with symptomatic PEA and ACD, respectively. Left-sided PEA were statistically significantly younger (50.2 ± 15.4 years vs. 62.1 ± 15.8 years, P= 0.009), more obese (body mass index [BMI]: 26.3 ± 2.9 kg/m² vs. 22.3 ± 3.1 kg/m² , P< 0.001), and had more tendencies with normal or mildly elevated high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) (1.2 ± 1.3 mg/dL vs. 8.4 ± 7.9 mg/dL, P< 0.001) than patients with left-sided ACD. The discriminative function of age, BMI and CRP between left-sided PEA versus left-sided ACD was 0.71 (cutoff: age ≤ 59 years, sensitivity of 66.7%, specificity of 77.8%), 0.84 (cutoff: BMI > 24.5 kg/m² , sensitivity of 80.0%, specificity of 80.0%) and 0.80 (cutoff: CRP < 1.8 mg/dL, sensitivity of 72.2%, specificity of 85.7%).CONCLUSIONS: If patients with left lower quadrant abdominal pain are less than 60 years, obese (BMI > 24.5 kg/m² ) with or without normal to mild elevated CRP levels (CRP < 1.8 mg/dL), it might be necessary for clinicians to suspect the diagnosis of PEA rather than ACD.
Abdominal Pain ; C-Reactive Protein ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Obesity ; Peas ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity

Colonic diverticular disease is the common conditions in industrialized and westernized countries, but it is relatively rare in areas such as Asia. Colonic diverticula are asymptomatic in most cases, only 10-25% develop diverticulitis and 1% finally gets surgery. The location of colonic diverticulitis are significantly different in Western countries and Asia. Left-sided diverticulitis is common in Western countries, while in Asians, right-sided diverticulitis is more prevalent. A CT scans is commonly used to diagnose diverticulitis and its complication such as abscess, obstruction, fistula and perforation. It also has been used in percutaneous drainage of diverticular abscess and predicting the success of medical therapy. After resolution of clinical attack of diverticulitis, colonoscopy can be performed to exclude colon cancer. The current therapeutic approaches for colonic diverticulitis are relieving symptoms and preventing complications. Uncomplicated diverticulitis is successfully treated with antibiotics, bowel rest and pain control, while complicated diverticulitis require surgical consultation. Treatment strategy of recurrent diverticulitis depends on age and comorbid diseases as well as the frequency and severity of subsequent attacks.
Abscess ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Colon* ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis* ; Diverticulitis* ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Diverticulum, Colon ; Drainage ; Fistula ; Humans ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Recently, it has been well known that the incidence of colonic diverticulosis is increasing in Korea. However, cases of right-sided colonic diverticulitis are rare although diverticula are located in right-sided colon more than left-side. The major clinical symptom of right-sided colonic diverticulitis is acute right lower quadrant pain which may mimic acute appendicitis. Therefore, we evaluated the clinical characteristics of the patients with right-sided colonic diverticulitis and safety of the colonoscopic examinations in these patients. METHODS: The evidence of diverticulitis was confirmed by the presence of pus at the diverticular lesions on colonoscopy. We retrospectively analyzed clinical menifestations, laboratory findings, colonoscopic findings and the presence of complications after colonoscopy, and radiologic findings of the patients with right-sided colonic diverticulitis. RESULTS: All the patients with right-sided colonic diverticulitis had abdominal pain. Physical examinations showed abdominal tenderness in all patients and leukocytosis was noticed in 8 out of 12 patients (66%). There was no complication during and after colonoscopy. All the patients were managed with conservative treatment including broad-spectrum antibiotics and improved without clinical aggravation. CONCLUSIONS: The colonoscopic examination may be helpful to diagnose right-sided colonic diverticulitis.
Abdominal Pain ; Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendicitis ; Colon* ; Colonoscopy ; Diagnosis* ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic* ; Diverticulosis, Colonic ; Diverticulum ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Leukocytosis ; Physical Examination ; Retrospective Studies ; Suppuration

BACKGROUND/AIMS: In western countries, symptomatic diverticulitis develops in about 20% of the population with colonic diverticula, and it is mainly located at the left-sided colon. The clinical characteristics of diverticulitis have rarely been investigated although its incidence is increasing in Asia including Korea. The aim of this study was to compare diverticulitis with asymptomatic diverticulosis and to compare the clinical characteristics of right-sided diverticulitis with those of left-sided diverticulitis. METHODS: We retrospectively investigated the medical records of the patients who had symptoms and signs of diverticulitis. Their diagnosis was confirmed with computed tomography, barium study, colonoscopy and/or operations at Samsung Medical Center from September 1998 to February 2002. The control cases of asymptomatic and incidental diverticulosis were randomly selected during routine health check-up after matching age and sex. RESULTS: Twenty-seven patients with diverticulitis (male : female=14 : 13) were included. The mean age was 53 (27~86). The ratio of right and left diverticulitis was 20:7, which was similar to the ratio of diverticulosis. The complications, especially perforation, were more frequent in the patients with left-sided diverticulitis (p<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Colonic diverticulitis is more prevalent at the right colon and left colonic diverticulitis has more complications than right colonic diverticulitis in Korea.
Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Diverticulitis, Colonic/*diagnosis ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Middle Aged

PURPOSE: The planned therapy of right colonic diverticulitis is very difficult because preoperative diagnosis is uncommon and the method of treatment is usually decided at the time of laparotomy. We retrospectively analyzed the clinical characteristics of right colonic diverticulitis, the clinical distinctions between preoperatively and postoperatively diagnosed patients, the recurrence rate, and the hospital stay by treatment modality. METHODS: Among 104 patients who were treated for right colonic diverticulitis from January 1997 to May 2005, we enrolled 90 patients who had been diagnosed by the operation or a barium enema study (BE), and who had not been lost to follow-up. Patients were divided into three groups based on treatment modality: Group 1 (n=28), conservative management with intravenous antibiotics; Group 2 (n=46), aggressive resection; Group 3 (n=16), appendectomy with intravenous antibiotics. RESULTS: Ultrasound and computed tomography (CT) detected 12 (22.6%) and 21 (87.5%) cases of right colonic diverticulitis, respectively. BE was applied to 45 patients, 28 (62.2%) of them with multiple diverticula. Right colonic diverticulitis was the preoperative diagnosis in 39 patients (43.3%). The length of hospital stay was significantly different between the groups (P<0.001): 4.9+/-3.1 days in Group 1, 7.5+/-3.7 days in Group 2, and 3.8+/-0.9 days in Group 3. Two patients (7.1%) in Group 1, 2 patients (4.3%) in Group 2, and 5 patients (31.3%) in Group 3 had recurrent diverticulitis during the follow-up period (P=0.007). The Kaplan-Meier estimated recurrence rates for Groups 1, 2, and 3 were statistically significantly different (P=0.0086). CONCLUSIONS: To differentiate right colonic diverticulitis from appendicitis, focusing on the peculiar feature in contrast to appendicitis and appropriate utilization of CT are important. If diagnosed preoperatively, uncomplicated right colonic diverticulitis can be managed by conservative management with intravenous antibiotics. If diagnosed intraoperatively, aggressive resection is advocated as the most effective method for decreasing the recurrence rate.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Appendectomy ; Appendicitis ; Barium ; Colon* ; Diagnosis* ; Diverticulitis* ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Diverticulum ; Enema ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Length of Stay ; Lost to Follow-Up ; Recurrence ; Retrospective Studies ; Ultrasonography

PURPOSE: Because there are no significant differences of the clinical findings between the appendicitis and cecal diverticulitis, it is very difficult to make a correct diagnosis preoperatively and to choose a appropriate management intraoperatively. The purpose of this study is to investigate the clinical charateristics of right diveticulitis and to evaluate the appropriateness of surgical management. METHODS: We reviewed 45 cases of right colonic diverticulitis which underwent emergency operation under the impression of acute appendicitis during 10 years from January 1988 to December 1997. RESULTS: Of them, 38 cases were treated by diverticulectomy with appendectomy (Group I), and 7 cases were treated by resection (ileocecal resection or right hemicolectomy) (Group II). The male to female ratio was 4:1, and the mean age was 38.2 years. In Group I, all cases had a solitary inflamed cecal diverticulum. In group II, two cases had a solitary cecal diverticulitis, whereas five cases had multiple ones. Postoperative complications were found in 14 cases, but all of them were not significant. Postoperative Barium enema was performed in 22 cases of Group I, in two cases of Group II. In Group I, 8 cases had a residual diverticulum at postoperative Barium enema. In Group II, no residual diverticulum was shown. Follow-up study by Telephone was done at 16 cases, there were no symptomatic recurrences. CONCLUSIONS: In conclusion, when right colonic diverticulitis is found at the time of operation, surgical management is a safe treatment with low morbidity and low recurrence rate. Diverticulectomy with appendectomy is a safe surgical procedure for the uncomplicated diverticulitis. If diverticulitis is complicating, multiple or undistinguishable with malignancy, resection (ileocecal resection, right hemicolectomy) should be considered as a primary surgical treatment. Postoperative colon study is helpful, due to high incidence of residual diverticulum.
Appendectomy ; Appendicitis* ; Barium ; Colon* ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic* ; Diverticulum ; Emergencies ; Enema ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Telephone

A 59-year-old man presented with abdominal and left flank pain. The symptom had started 30 days before as an acute nephrolithiasis, which had worsened despite conservative management. The abdomen was slightly distended and tender over the lower abdomen, without signs of generalized peritoneal irritation. A computed tomography (CT) scan showed an abscess in left para-renal space up to the subphrenic space and an unexpected pneumomediastinum. An emergency operation was performed, which showed retroperitoneal diverticulitis perforation of the sigmoid descending junction with abscess formation. A segmental resection of the diseased colon and end-colostomy was performed (Hartmann's procedure). However, the patient's condition progressively deteriorated, and he died of sepsis and multi-organ failure on the 5th postoperative day. Although pneumomediastinum caused by colonic diverticulitis perforation is extremely rare, it could be a life-threatening condition in patients without signs of peritonitis because of delayed diagnosis.
Abdomen ; Abscess ; Colon ; Colon, Sigmoid ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Emergencies ; Flank Pain ; Humans ; Mediastinal Emphysema ; Middle Aged ; Nephrolithiasis ; Peritonitis ; Sepsis

PURPOSE: Colonic diverticulitis with right lower quadrant pain presents clinical symptoms and signs indistinguishable from those of appendicitis. This study was conducted to evaluate the clinical features, the laboratory findings, and the usefulness of sonography as a diagnostic tool forcolonic diverticulitis. METHODS: A total of 561 patients with acute right lower quadrant pain was referred for ultrasound (US) examination. The US studies were performed with a 4.0-to 8.0-MHzlinear transducer and an 8.0-to 5.0-MHz convex transducerusing the graded compression method. Thirty-seven (37)patients were finally diagnosed to have diverticulitis. We retrospectively evaluated the age distribution, the sex ratio, the clinical symptoms, the duration of illness before hospital adimission, and the US findings for those 37 patients. RESULTS: The average age of the patients was 33+/-16.1 years old. The ratio of males to females was 1.1 : 1. The mean duration of illness prior to seeking medical attention was 49.2+/-9.3 hours. Nausea, vomiting, and anorexia were seen in 29.7%, 10.8%, and 27.0% of the patients, respectively. Sonography detected 30 patients with diverticulitis with 2 false positive and 7 false negative results. The most typical sonographic feature of an inflamed diverticulum was a round or oval-shaped hypoechoic structure (86.5%) protruding from the colonic wall. Regional pericolic or peridiverticular fat thickening was noted in 81.1% of the patients, and segmental colon wall thickening in 70.8%. US examination yielded a sensitivity of 81.1%, a specificity of 99.6%, an overall accuracy of 98.4%, a positive predictive value of 93.7%, and a negative predictive value of 98.7%. CONCLUSION: This study will be useful in the diagnosis of right colonic diverticulitis, in particular, by using abdominal sonograms in patients who have atypical clinical symptoms or signs of appendicitis.
Age Distribution ; Anorexia ; Appendicitis ; Colon ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis* ; Diverticulitis, Colonic ; Diverticulum ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Nausea ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Sex Ratio ; Transducers ; Ultrasonography* ; Vomiting

PURPOSE: Most patients who are finally diagnosed as having cecal and right-sided colonic diverticulitis complain of pain in the right lower quadrant of the abdomen, many of them unfortunately undergo an emergency operation for presumed appendicitis. Our purpose was to differentiate the diagnosis of right-sided colonic diverticulitis from appendicitis in an emergency setting. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of 450 patients between January 1997 and July 2003. Among them, 92 patients who had been diagnosed as having right-sided colonic diverticulitis were classified as Group I. In the remaining 358 patients with appendicitis, 268 patients with simple appendicitis were classified as Group II and 90 patients with perforated appendicitis were classified as Group III. RESULTS: The sex ratios were similar among 3 groups. The mean age of Group I (36.5+/-10.1 years) was significantly different from that of Group II (30.7+/-14.8 years, P=0.002), but not from that of Group III (38.7+/-20.9). Incidences of fever/chill and nausea/vomiting were less common in Group I (P<0.05). The duration of prodromal symptoms in Group I (2.6 days) was longer than that of Group II (1.6 days, P=0.02), but was not significantly different from that of Group III (3.3 days, P=0.83). The mean WBC count was significantly smaller in Group I (10913.8/mm3) than in Group II (13238.3/mm3) and III (15589.3/mm3, P<0.001). The percentage of segment form in differential counts was smaller in Group I (73.6%) than in Group II (79.1%) and III (81.8%, P<0.001). The percentage of lymphocytes in differential counts was larger in Group I (17.7%) than in Group II (13.9%) and Group III (9.4%, P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Among the patients who complain of pain in the right lower quadrant abdomen in an emergency setting, cecum and right-sided colonic diverticulitis must be considered in the following conditions to avoid unnecessary emergency operations, relatively younger patients (20~40 years), infrequent prodromal symptoms, absent rebound tenderness with a laterally deviated maximal tenderness point, and absent or mild leucocytosis with a relatively low fraction of segment forms associated with a higher fraction of lymphocytes in CBC.
Abdomen ; Appendicitis* ; Cecum ; Colon* ; Diagnosis* ; Diverticulitis, Colonic* ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Lymphocytes ; Medical Records ; Prodromal Symptoms ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio