Emergency treatment of diverticulitis of the sigmoid flexure

Summary The traditional method of treating acute diverticulitis by proximal colostomy is unsafe. This is revealed by published reports and supported by the results described in this paper. Fifteen unselected patients were treated by radical surgery. There were no deaths and few complications. Despite extensive mobilization of the colon and rectum, there was only one intraperitoneal abscess, which resolved spontaneously.