The Place of Elective Surgery Following Acute Diverticulitis in Young Patients: When is Surgery Indicated? An Analysis of the Literature

Diverticulitis in the young is often regarded as a specific entity. Resection after a single attack because of a more "virulent'' course of the disease has been accepted as conventional wisdom. The evidence for such a recommendation and the place of elective surgery was reviewed by a search of Medline, PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane library for articles published between January 1965 and March 2008 using the terms diverticular disease and diverticulitis. Publications had to give specific information on at least ten younger patients (age <= 50 years). Much of the older literature suggests that young patients experience a more virulent course with diverticulitis. Previous studies have shown misclassification and selection bias. As a result leading to a bias for more severe cases to be recognized mild cases may not be included. Young patients appear more likely to undergo operations to resolve an uncertain diagnosis. Recent studies have raised doubts about a virulent course with diverticulitis suggesting that recurrence may be associated with disease severity on CT scan, and supporting a conservative approach to diverticular disease. The diagnosis of diverticulitis is often delayed in younger patients because it is not considered, resulting in presenting cases being found at surgery or appearing more severe and more likely to be complicated. There is a lack of evidence to support the hypothesis that elective surgery should follow a single attack of diverticulitis. Any increased risk appears be a chronologic rather than pathologic phenomenon. Most patients will not have further episodes of diverticulitis.