The place of elective surgery following acute diverticulitis in young patients: When is surgery indicated? An analysis of the literature

Abstract

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 mi..