Clinical Characteristics of Right Colonic Diverticulitis: A Comparison of Ileocecal Diverticulitis and Hepatic Flexure Diverticulitis

Abstract

There have been no reports on examinations of right colonic diverticulitis (RCD) by site. This study was designed to compare the clinical characteristics of ileocecal diverticulitis (ICD) with those of hepatic flexure diverticulitis (HFD). A total of 170 patients with RCD admitted to our hospital between January 2005 and December 2019 were reviewed. 132 patients (82 males, mean age 48.8 years) had ICD, and 38 patients (10 males, mean age 39.9 years) had HFD. HFD was predominant in younger and female patients. Nineteen patients (14%) with ICD had complicated diverticulitis with abscess and perforation, and 17 patients (13%) underwent surgery. On the other hand, few patients with HFD had complicated diverticulitis (n = 1, 3%), and no patients required surgery. There was little difference in recurrence rate: that of ICD and HFD was 17% and 16%, respectively. All patients who experienced recurrent diverticulitis had uncomplicated diverticulitis at the initial attack, and complicated recurrence was uncommon. These results indicate that it is necessary to compare ICD with HFD, because there are many characteristics that differ between ICD and HFD.