Abstract
Diverticulitis is frequently encountered in the elderly population. Because elderly patients typically have decreased physiologic reserve and other complicating comorbid conditions, treatment decisions must be carefully made. Like with younger patients, uncomplicated diverticulitis is usually treated successfully with antibiotics alone. Frequent contact with the patient is required so that worsening is promptly detected, and a treatment escalation, if needed, is not missed. Treatment of complicated diverticulitis depends on the specific complication. For perforated diverticulitis, resection with end colostomy has been the traditional operation, but in recent years, its use has been challenged by other options including resection with anastomosis and proximal diversion and laparoscopic lavage.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 49-54 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Current Geriatrics Reports |
| Volume | 5 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2016 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Genevieve B. Melton declares that her spouse is an employee of St. Jude Medical and has received financial support through grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Agency for Healthcare Research Quality (AHRQ).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 Springer Science+Business Media.
Keywords
- Diverticulitis
- Diverticulosis
- End colostomy
- Geriatric medicine
- Hartmann's procedure
- Laparoscopic peritoneal lavage
- Percutaneous drainage
- Sigmoidectomy