Question: How is diverticulitis treated?
Dr. Hibberd’s Answer:
Diverticulitis is an inflamed and infected pocket or out-pouching of the large bowel. Such an infection often can be managed with appropriate combinations of oral antibiotic medications, but more advanced cases may need hospitalization and intravenous medication to reduce the chance of rupture into the abdominal cavity.
Because these infections may perforate and leak into the abdominal cavity with very little warning, you should seek professional medical guidance when you develop abdominal discomfort, especially when diverticulitis is suspected.
I regard diverticulitis as a variation of an appendicitis-like condition, but in an area of the large bowel (colon) that usually is less likely to rupture than the appendix. Treat this condition aggressively; some patients will require surgical colon resection and sometimes a temporary colostomy.
Surgery is usually reserved for those cases at risk of imminent perforation, or when infection is too extensive to prevent catastrophic abdominal cavity perforation and infection despite the best antibiotic treatment available.
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