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 or =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.ope