Overview of the Annual Frequency and Clinical Manifestations of Colonic Diverticulosis

Kim, Kyeong Ok; Jang, Byung Ik; Kim, Tae Nyeun; Moon, Hee Jung

Abstract

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The prevalence of colonic diverticulosis in Korea is lower than in Western contries and the involved site is different. But, the recently increasing prevalence in Korea may be due to changing life style and advances in diagnostic approachs. We analyzed the annual incidence and clinical manifestations of colonic diverticulosis of the patients who underwent colonofibroscopy. METHODS: Medical records of 25,808 patients who underwent colonofibroscopy at Yeungnam University Medical Center from January 2000 to December 2007 were retrospectively reviewed. RESULTS: Overall prevalence was 5.5%. The mean age of the patients was 57.02+/-12.41 years (range 19-97 years) and the most frequent occurrence (28.8%) occurred in the 7th decade of life. Male to female ratio was 977:159. The annual incidence rate increased from 4.6% to 7.2% since 2000. Diverticulum occurred more frequently in the right side colon (997 cases) than the left side colon (159 cases), with involvement of both sides in 62 cases. The rate of left sided colon increased with age. In 516 patients, only one diverticulum was detected and the other 682 patients had multiple diverticuli. Complications were evident in 51 cases, consisting of diverticulititis in 35 cases and bleeding in 16 cases. CONCLUSIONS: According to this single center analysis, the annual incidence rate of colonic diverticulosis is increasing with right sided colon as the predominant site. But, the frequency in left-sided colon is increasing with age.