Management of acute diverticulitis

1 Emergency department visits and hospital admissions for acute
diverticulitis have increased
Emergency department visits for acute diverticulitis increased by 26.8% to
113.9 visits per 100 000 from 2006 to 2013 in the United States.1
Hospital admissions for diverticulitis increased 7.5% annually from 190 per 100 000 in 2008 to
310 per 100 000 in 2015 in Europe; the increase occurred predominantly among
patients aged younger than 60 years.2 Insufficient consumption of dietary fibre
is associated with this rise.
2 Symptoms of diverticulitis may be driven by inflammation rather
than infection
Contemporary evidence shows that use of antibiotics in uncomplicated cases of
diverticulitis neither accelerates recovery nor improves outcomes.2
A recent
study has suggested that chronic inflammation secondary to environmental risk
factors and alterations of the gut microbiome are now favoured causes over
microperforation or bacterial translocation.3
3 Most patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis can be treated as
outpatients with nonopiate analgesia rather than antibiotics
Cross-sectional imaging that shows inflamed colonic diverticula without perforation or abscess defines uncomplicated diverticulitis. Two randomized controlled trials that compared antibiotic and nonantibiotic treatment reported
no difference in recovery time, treatment duration or rate of recurrence.4,5
Updated guidelines recommend reserving antibiotics for patients taking
immunosuppressive medications and those with sepsis.1,2 Treating symptoms
with nonopiate analgesics avoids worsening bowel function and contributing
to opiate dependence.
4 Evidence of complicated diverticulitis should prompt emergent
surgical assessment and antibiotic treatment
Complicated diverticulitis, defined as radiologic evidence of perforation or intraabdominal abscess, has a 30-day mortality rate of 8.7%.2
Antibiotic therapy is indicated, and many patients require admission to hospital.1
Percutaneous drainage
of large abscesses (> 3 cm) or emergency surgery may be required.2
5 Colonoscopy and elective colon resection are not routinely required
after resolution of uncomplicated diverticulitis
Only 8.7% of patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis will present to hospital
with a second episode.1
Elective surgery should be determined by frequency
and severity of symptoms, rather than prevention of future complications.2
Risk of malignant disease after uncomplicated left-sided diverticulitis is similar to that of the general population (1%), and standard colon cancer screening guidelines should be followed.1
Complicated diverticulitis warrants an
interval colonoscopy, typically 6 weeks after resolution.1

Author/s:

Zondervan, N., Snelgrove, R., Bradley, N.

Antibiotics After Incision and Drainage for Uncomplicated Skin Abscesses: A Clinical Practice Guide

Jeffrey Wilson — Thu, 23 Aug 2018 16:46:00 +0000

Date Added:

September 29, 2018

Journal/Publication:

The BMJ

Publisher:

BMJ

Publication Date:

February 6, 2018

Issue:

360

URL:

Antibiotics After Incision and Drainage for Uncomplicated Skin Abscesses: A Clinical Practice Guide

Type:

Clinical Research Results

Format:

Article

DOI (1):

10.1136/bmj.k243

Keywords

PMID (1):

29437651

MeSH

trimethoprim, sulfamethoxazole drug combination

drug resistance, bacterial

anti-bacterial agents

abscess

drainage

clindamycin

Treatment with TMP-SMX or clindamycin after incision and drainage modestly reduces pain and treatment failure and probably reduces abscess recurrence, but treatment increase the risk of adverse effects including nausea and diarrhea. Other antibiotics do not improve outcomes after I&D

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For uncomplicated skin abscesses, we suggest using trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole (TMP-SMX) or clindamycin in addition to incision and drainage rather than incision and drainage alone, and emphasise the need for shared decision making
TMP-SMX or clindamycin modestly reduces pain and treatment failure and probably reduces abscess recurrence, but increases the risk of adverse effects including nausea and diarrhoea
We suggest TMP-SMX rather than clindamycin because TMP-SMX has a lower risk of diarrhoea
Cephalosporins in addition to incision and drainage are probably not more effective than incision and drainage alone in most settings
From a societal perspective, the modest benefits from adjuvant antibiotics may not outweigh the harms from increased antimicrobial resistance in the community, although this is speculative

Author/s:

Vermandere, Mieke, Aertgeerts, Bert, Agoritsas, Thomas, Liu, Catherine, Burgers, Jako, Merglen, Arnaud, Okwen, Patrick Mbah, Lytvyn, Lyubov, Chua, Shunjie, Vandvik, Per O., Guyatt, Gordon H., Beltran-Arroyave, Claudia, Lavergne, Valéry, Speeckaert, Reinhart, Steen, Finn E., Arteaga, Victoria, Sender, Rachelle, McLeod, Shelley, Sun, Xin, Wang, Wen, Siemieniuk, Reed A.C.