Do I Need Surgery If I Have Diverticulitis?

By the age of 50, more than 30% of adults in the United States will have diverticulosis — a condition in which pouches form in your lower colon. And this number jumps to more than 70%  by age 80.

While these numbers may sound alarming, the reality is that diverticulosis and diverticular disease are two very separate things, and less than 5% of people with diverticulosis experience complications like diverticulitis.

If your diverticulosis has turned that corner and you’re experiencing diverticulitis, the team here at Fairfax Colon & Rectal Surgery wants to discuss your treatment options. While these options do include surgery, it’s far from the only path forward. That said, sometimes it can be the best solution as it puts an end to the uncomfortable complications that stem from diverticular disease. Let’s take a look.

Frontline treatments for diverticulitis

If you’re experiencing diverticulitis, which means there’s painful inflammation in your colon, typically in the lower portion called your sigmoid colon, but it isn’t severe, we usually start with conservative treatments, such as:

• A course of antibiotics
• Clear liquid diet to rest your colon

If your diverticulitis is severe and you’re in a good deal of pain, you might need hospitalization and intravenous (IV) antibiotics. Each year in the US, about 200,000 people are hospitalized with diverticulitis and some may undergo surgery, while others are treated with the aforementioned IV antibiotics.

When diverticulitis becomes problematic

Surgical management of diverticulitis is complex — sometimes, we have to go in on an emergency basis, such as when there’s a blockage in your colon or a perforation in the organ. Again, these are emergency situations that can lead to sepsis — a life-threatening reaction to infection — so surgery is the only option. 

In other cases, we use surgery as a way to manage recurrent diverticulitis or diverticulitis that leads to complications, such as:

• An abscess
• A fistula — a tunnel that forms between your colon and another pelvic organ
• Partial obstruction in your colon
• Diverticular bleeding
• Ongoing issues with constipation and diarrhea
• Chronic abdominal pain

During these surgeries, we always use minimally invasive surgical techniques whenever we can to remove the diseased portion of your colon. We only remove what we have to as the goal is to be left with two healthy pieces that we join to preserve the function of your colon.

If we have to remove a good deal of your colon, then we might have to reroute your intestine to an opening in your abdomen — an ostomy. 

But we’re getting ahead of ourselves here and don’t want you to jump to the worst-case scenario. Instead, the better plan is to come see us to explore your options for your symptomatic diverticulitis, which may not even be surgical.

To get that ball rolling, please contact one of our offices in Fairfax, Fair Oaks, Alexandria, Gainesville, or Lansdowne, Virginia, to schedule an appointment with one of our colon experts.