Related Articles

Is the decline in the surgical treatment for diverticulitis associated with an increase in complicated diverticulitis?

Dis Colon Rectum. 2009 Sep;52(9):1558-63

Authors: Ricciardi R, Baxter NN, Read TE, Marcello PW, Hall J, Roberts PL

PURPOSE: Indications for operative intervention in the treatment of diverticulitis have become unclear. We hypothesized that surgical treatment for diverticulitis has decreased resulting in proportionately more complicated diverticulitis cases (free perforation and/or abscess). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective analysis of patients with diverticular disease in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample from 1991 through 2005. We used diagnostic codes to identify all patient discharges with diverticular disease and then determined the proportion of discharges with diverticulitis, perforated disease, diverticular abscess, and surgical treatment. RESULTS: During the study period, 685,390 diverticulitis discharges were recorded. The ratio of diverticulitis discharges increased from 5.1 cases per 1,000 inpatients in 1991 to 7.6 cases per 1,000 inpatients in 2005 (P < 0.0001). The proportion of patients who underwent colectomy for uncomplicated diverticulitis declined from 17.9% in 1991 to 13.7% in 2005 (P < 0.0.0001). During the same period, the proportion of free diverticular perforations as a fraction of all diverticulitis cases remained unchanged (1.5%). The proportion of diverticular abscess discharges as a fraction of all diverticulitis cases increased from 5.9% in 1991 to 9.6% in 2005 (P < 0.0001). Last, we noted a decrease in diverticular perforations and/or abscess treated with colectomy, 71.0% in 1991 to 55.5% in 2005 (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: Despite a significant decline in surgical treatment for diverticulitis, there has been no change in the proportion of patients discharged for free diverticular perforation. There was an increase in diverticular abscess discharges, but this finding was not associated with an increase in same stay surgical treatment.

PMID: 19690482 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Read more →]

Epidemiology of Clostridium difficile colitis in hospitalized patients with inflammatory bowel diseases.

Dis Colon Rectum. 2009 Jan;52(1):40-5

Authors: Ricciardi R, Ogilvie JW, Roberts PL, Marcello PW, Concannon TW, Baxter NN

PURPOSE: A notable increase in-hospital admissions for Clostridium difficile colitis has occurred in the United States. In this paper we evaluate changes in the epidemiology of Clostridium difficile colitis in a subset of hospitalized patients with inflammatory bowel diseases. METHODS: A retrospective cohort analysis was conducted for all inflammatory bowel disease patients with Clostridium difficile colitis in the Nationwide Inpatient Sample, a 20 percent stratified random sample of national hospital discharge abstracts from 1993 through 2003. Using standard diagnostic codes, we identified yearly admissions for Clostridium difficile, other bacterial infections, and parasitic infections in inflammatory bowel disease patients. Next, we calculated prevalence, case fatality, and operative mortality for inflammatory bowel disease patients diagnosed with Clostridium difficile. RESULTS: We found that the prevalence of Clostridium difficile rose significantly in patients with ulcerative colitis and in those Crohn’s disease patients with some component of large bowel involvement but not in patients with Crohn’s disease limited to the small bowel alone. During the study period, case fatality also rose significantly in patients with ulcerative colitis and Clostridium difficile but not in patients with Crohn’s disease and Clostridium difficile. Operative mortality for ulcerative colitis patients with Clostridium difficile reached 25.7 percent. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence and case fatality of patients with inflammatory bowel disease and Clostridium difficile rose significantly during the study period. Changes in Clostridium difficile epidemiology were particularly noteworthy for those patients with ulcerative colitis, who experienced elevated rates of hospitalization and case fatality.

PMID: 19273954 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

[Read more →]