THE VALUE OF SONOGRAPHY IN THE DIAGNOSIS OF ACUTE DIVERTICULITIS OF THE COLON

To assess the value of sonography as the initial imaging procedure in patients suspected of having acute diverticulitis of the colon, we evaluated the sonograms of 71 patients who had clinical signs and symptoms of the disease. Identification of diverticula on sonograms was taken as evidence of acute diverticulitis. Fifty-four patients had sonographic findings consistent with this diagnosis. These included gut wall thickening (53), diverticula (34), pericolic (21) and intramural (two) fluid collections, edema of the pericolic fat (22), and intramural sinus tract (one). The final diagnosis was based on the clinical impression (all cases); pathologic interpretation of a surgical specimen (33 cases); findings on contrast enema (40 cases), CT scan (14 cases), and colonoscopy (18 cases); and a favorable clinical outcome in the absence of therapy (17 cases). Forty-six of the 54 patients with positive sonograms had acute diverticulitis, six had pericolic inflammatory masses caused by other colonic diseases, and two had surgically confirmed diverticulosis without active inflammation. All 17 patients with normal sonograms were treated conservatively. Diverticulitis was not confirmed in any of these patients. Our study suggests that sonography is a valuable imaging technique in the patient with signs and symptoms of acute diverticulitis.