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

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).