If left untreated, diverticulitis can lead to serious, potentially life-threatening complications like abscesses (pus pockets), bowel obstructions (blockages), perforation (a hole in the colon), fistulas (abnormal connections between organs), peritonitis (severe abdominal infection), sepsis, and severe bleeding, often requiring hospitalization and surgery to resolve. Mild cases might resolve, but ignoring symptoms allows inflammation and infection to worsen, creating dangerous secondary problems.
Diverticulitis shouldn't affect your overall life expectancy. Only in the unlikely event of a bowel perforation or a ruptured abscess would you be at risk of life-threatening complications.
The majority of people with diverticula will not have any symptoms; this is known as diverticulosis. Symptoms of diverticulitis tend to be more serious and include: more severe abdominal pain, especially on the left side. high temperature (fever) of 38C (100.4F) or above.
Nausea or vomiting
Like any digestive disorder, diverticulitis can make you nauseous and even cause vomiting. You might notice your appetite is off, and you don't feel like eating. Even your favorite foods may not seem appealing, and some foods can make inflammation — and nausea it causes — much worse.
Mild to moderate cases of diverticulitis are usually treated with oral antibiotics, usually either metronidazole, ciprofloxacin, or co-amoxiclav. Taking a low-fibre diet during the acute episode may help. Once you have improved, you can slowly return to a more normal diet including plenty of high-fibre foods.
It is recommended that for “mild diverticulitis,” which is treated on an outpatient basis, a good first-choice drug is trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole, double-strength, given twice a day for 7 to 10 days.
For most infections, you'll start to feel better within a few days. Usually, you take co-amoxiclav 3 times a day.
When diverticulitis leads to sepsis, look out for these specific symptoms:
Make an appointment to see a doctor if you have:
If your intestine becomes infected or inflamed, it's called diverticulitis. You may also have symptoms such as: severe, constant tummy pain. high temperature.
While the cause of diverticular diseases is unknown, several studies have associated the conditions with low fiber intake, excessive alcohol use, anti-inflammatory medications, steroids, obesity, lack of exercise, and smoking.
Stages of Diverticulitis
Stage III: Abscesses have burst, and pus has been discharged into the abdomen. Stage IV: Abscesses have burst into the peritoneal cavity (a fluid-filled area that houses many of the abdominal organs), resulting in the presence of feces and, subsequently, infection.
Diverticulitis perforation is a medical emergency with symptoms like sudden, severe abdominal pain (often lower left), high fever, chills, rapid heart rate, nausea, vomiting, and a rigid, tender abdomen, as bowel contents leak into the abdominal cavity (peritonitis). It requires immediate medical attention, with signs of worsening infection like difficulty breathing or confusion signaling sepsis.
Many people will not have a recurrence. In one study of 3,165 patients hospitalized for diverticulitis, only 13.3% had a recurrence after 9 years. If a patient has diverticulitis and high blood pressure, consider a calcium channel blocker to reduce intraluminal pressure (and lower blood pressure as well).
If imaging shows a large abscess or a tear in the colon wall, emergency surgery may be necessary to prevent infection from spreading. That's not meant to scare you—it's simply the medical reality of when diverticulitis needs surgery to protect your health. There's also the matter of repeated episodes.
Typical diet to prevent diverticulitis
Over time, keep adding fiber to your diet by including high-fiber foods such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains. High-fiber foods may lower your chances of getting diverticulitis again. Drink lots of water to keep fiber moving through your digestive system.
Symptoms of both ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease usually include belly pain, diarrhea, rectal bleeding, extreme tiredness and weight loss. For some people, IBD is only a mild illness. But for others, it's a condition that causes disability and can lead to life-threatening complications.
Diarrhea is common; other symptoms include bleeding, bloating, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and even features of complete abdominal obstruction. Some infections have characteristic features.
The five cardinal signs of inflammation, first described by the ancients and later expanded, are redness (rubor), heat (calor), swelling (tumor), pain (dolor), and loss of function (functio laesa), resulting from the body's protective response to injury or infection, characterized by increased blood flow, fluid buildup, and chemical signals affecting nerve endings.
Complications of diverticular disease
Perforation – a weakened pocket of bowel wall may rupture. The contents of the bowel can then seep into the abdominal cavity. Symptoms include pain, high fever and chills. A perforated bowel is a medical emergency.
Early warning signs of sepsis include fever or low temperature, chills, rapid breathing or heart rate, confusion, slurred speech, extreme pain or discomfort, clammy/sweaty skin, and reduced urine output, with children potentially showing fewer wet nappies, vomiting, or a non-fading rash. These symptoms, often appearing after an infection, signal a severe body response and require immediate emergency care, as sepsis can rapidly worsen, according to the Mayo Clinic.
If you have a gastrointestinal or bowel perforation, you may experience:
Amoxicillin-clavulanate is believed to treat a wider range of bacteria than amoxicillin, but it is also associated with more gastrointestinal side effects.
Outpatient diverticulitis is commonly treated with either metronidazole-with-fluoroquinolone or amoxicillin-clavulanate. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration advised that fluoroquinolones be reserved for conditions with no alternative treatment option.
Key takeaways: Augmentin (amoxicillin / clavulanate) is an antibiotic that treats bacterial infections. It's best to avoid combining Augmentin and alcohol or other medications that can upset your stomach. Augmentin can increase the risk of bleeding if you take it with warfarin (Coumadin, Jantoven).