Giant colonic diverticulum: case report of a rare surgical condition

Abstract

Introduction: Diverticular disease is a common disorder of the colon with an extremely rare presentation: giant colonic diverticulum (GCD). GCD is defined as a diverticulum measuring 4 cm or larger and affects the sigmoid colon in 90% of the cases.

Patients: We report on a case of a 74-year-old woman with a GCD.

Methods: We present a case report of a 74-year-old woman with a GCD. A brief review of the literature concerning clinical presentation, diagnosis, differential diagnosis, pathogenesis, histological classification and treatment of GCD will be discussed.

Results: Our patient was treated according to the available information in the literature. The outcome was uneventful.

Conclusions: GCD is a rare presentation of diverticular disease. Because of the risk of serious complications, a correct diagnosis and treatment is essential. The investigations of choice include a plain abdominal X-ray and an abdominal CT scan. Surgical treatment is the treatment of choice with preferably a colectomy with en-bloc resection of the diverticulum.

Keywords: Giant colonic diverticulum; diverticular disease; general surgery; laparoscopic surgery; sigmoid.