1 Emergency department visits and hospital admissions for acute diverticulitis have increased
Emergency department visits for acute diverticulitis increased by 26.8% to 113.9 visits per 100 000 from 2006 to 2013 in the United States. (1) Hospital admissions for diverticulitis increased 7.5% annually from 190 per 100 000 in 2008 to 310 per 100 000 in 2015 in Europe; the increase occurred predominantly among patients aged younger than 60 years. (2) Insufficient consumption of dietary fibre is associated with this rise.
2 Symptoms of diverticulitis may be driven by inflammation rather than infection
Contemporary evidence shows that use of antibiotics in uncomplicated cases of diverticulitis neither accelerates recovery nor improves outcomes. (2) A recent study has suggested that chronic inflammation secondary to environmental risk factors and alterations of the gut microbiome are now favoured causes over microperforation or bacterial translocation. (3)
3 Most patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis can be treated as outpatients with nonopiate analgesia rather than antibiotics
Cross-sectional imaging that shows...