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- Shares symptoms with irritable bowel syndrome & chronic constipation
- Intermittent attacks of abdominal pain
- Erratic bowel habit
- Abdominal bloating and passage of excessive flatus
- Chronic lack of fibre
- At least third of population over 60
- Females > Males
- Pockets of mucosa herniate through weakness in bowel wall - where mucosal
blood vessels penetrate
Complications
- Spreading pericolic inflammation
- pericolic abscess
- intraperitoneal perforation
- acute rectal haemorrhage
- fistula formation into other abdominal or pelvic viscera
- bowel to bowel adhesions
- fibrous strictures of bowel
Presentations
- Chronic grumbling diverticular pain
- chronic pain
- erratic bowel habit
- chronic constipation
- ? mild left iliac fossa tenderness
- Acute diverticulitis
- continuous left iliac fossa pain (ranging from mild tenderness →
obvious local peritonitis)
- pyrexia
- tachycardia
- Managed with Abx against usual faecal organisms
- Pericolic abscess
- persistent pain and tenderness
- swinging pyrexia
- incomplete obstruction
- sometimes sepsis or PUO
- (may be presentation of perforated carcinoma)
- Antibiotic treatment or operation
- Diverticular perforation
- Acute rectal haemorrhage
- Fistula formation
- Intestinal obstruction
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