the Management of Diverticular Disease

By far the majority of individuals with diverticulosis remain asymptomatic throughout life, ⁽⁶⁾. Therefore, the incidence of diverticulosis is difficult to estimate.

Diverticulosis and associated clinical problems are most likely to occur in older age groups. However, although there is quite a variability of frequency rates for diverticulitis in the literature, there is some evidence that the incidence of diverticulitis has risen over the last years particularly in younger adults and women (younger than 45). There are almost no population-based data. Nearly all studies refer to the number of hospital admissions. An Italian study found an overall rate of 48 hospital admissions for acute diverticular disease per 100 000 inhabitants in 2015, and a yearly increase of over 3% from 2008. Interestingly, the age-specific rate was constant for older ages and there was only a slight increase for the younger age groups; thus, some of the increase of the overall rate might be attributed to the aging population. The overall rate of hospital admissions for acute diverticular disease per 100 000 hospitalizations was 248 with an annual increase of 7.5% from 190 in 2008 to 310 in 2015, ⁽⁷⁾.  From the USA, a prevalence of 92/100 000 persons with a preponderance of women has been report, ⁽⁸⁾.

Currently several national guidelines are available, most of which are not updated. The guidelines committee of GGS decided in 2025 to develop a national guideline for the management of diverticular disease and its complications, acknowledging that it will be a compromise of European society of coloproctology (ESCP), ⁽⁹⁾, and American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons (ASCRS) guidelines, ⁽¹⁰⁾, and different accessibilities to healthcare and medical procedures in different healthcare systems, ^{(11 & 12)}.