Fulltext

Acute Diverticulitis of the Left Colon: Value of the Initial CT and Timing of Elective Colectomy

Ambrosetti, Patrick

In: Journal of Gastrointestinal Surgery, 2008, vol. 12, no. 8, p. 1318-1320

Add to personal list
    Title
    • Acute Diverticulitis of the Left Colon: Value of the Initial CT and Timing of Elective Colectomy
    Author
    • Ambrosetti, Patrick. University Hospital of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland
    Document Type
    • Postprint
    OAI-PMH Identifier
    • oai:doc.rero.ch:311791
    Summary
    Computed Tomography is undeniably the most useful tool to confirm the suspected diagnosis of acute left-colonic diverticulitis and to objectively grade its severity into moderate diverticulitis (no signs of colonic perforation) and severe diverticulitis (signs of colonic perforation). Indeed, the severity of acute diverticulitis is statistically predictive of the risk both to need surgical treatment of the first episode of acute diverticulitis, and to follow a complicated evolution after successful conservative treatment of the acute phase. Consequently, CT brings a major contribution to define the place of surgery during the acute phase of diverticulitis, and, later on, inside the long-term evolution of the disease after initial successful conservative treatment