Population-based incidence of complicated diverticular disease of the sigmoid colon based on gender and age

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize the gender and age differences in patients with clinically symptomatic sigmoid diverticular disease requiring surgery.

Methods: All surgical patients hospitalized with proven diverticular disease requiring sigmoid resection from January 1988 to January 1998 were reviewed.

Results: A total of 934 patients requiring surgical resection for diverticular disease were admitted. There were 443 men and 491 women with an average age of 64. Forty-nine patients presented with massive rectal bleeding (males, 3.6 percent; females, 1.6 percent), 329 with chronic diverticulitis (males, 15.8 percent; females, 19.3 percent), 61 with obstructive symptoms (males, 2.7 percent; females, 3.9 percent), 148 with fistulas (males, 8.0 percent; females, 7.8 percent), 170 with perforation (male, 8.7 percent; female, 9.4 percent), 79 with abscess (males, 4.0 percent; females, 4.5 percent), 59 with stricture (males, 2.2 percent; females, 4.0 percent), and 39 with acute diverticulitis (males, 2.2 percent; females, 1.9 percent). Overall, patients younger than 50 presented more often with chronic or recurrent diverticulitis.

Conclusions: Female patients present, on average, five years later than male with complications requiring surgery. Overall, men have a higher incidence of bleeding (P = 0.015), whereas women present more often with stricture and obstruction (P = 0.02). Young males present more with fistula (P = 0.03), whereas older males present with bleeding (P = 0.001). Young females present with perforation (P = 0.002), and older females present with chronic diverticulitis (P = 0.04) and stricture (P = 0.04).