Relationship between disease location and age, obesity, and complications in Korean patients with acute diverticulitis: A comparison of clinical patterns with those of western populations

Background/Aims: To determine the clinical characteristics of acute diverticulitis in Korean patients with respect to the relationship between disease location and age, obesity, and complications. Methodology: The medical records of patients with acute diverticulitis who were treated at Severance Hospital in Korea between January 2000 and December 2006 were retrospectively analyzed. Results: A total of 70 patients were enrolled. Out of these, 53 (75.7%) cases of diverticulitis occurred in the right side of the colon and 17 cases (24.3%) in the left side of the colon. The mean age of patients with right-sided diverticulitis was significantly lower than that of patients with left-sided (p<0.01). Right-sided diverticulitis was more common than left-sided diverticulitis in obese patients (p<0.05); however, the overall complication rate was higher in left-sided than in right-sided diverticulitis (p<0.05). By multivariate analysis, age <40 years (p=0.025), body mass index ≥25kg/m² (p=0.045), and abdominal rebound tenderness (p=0.011) were risk factors for acute right-sided rather than left-sided diverticulitis. Conclusions: This study showed that acute colonic diverticulitis was more prevalent in the right side of the colon than the left side in Korean patients. Moreover, patients with right-sided diverticulitis were significantly younger, more obese, and had lower complication rates.