Fever above 100.4°F (38°C) that does not go away. Nausea, vomiting, or chills. Sudden belly or back pain that gets worse or is very severe.
Indications for hospital admission include the following: Evidence of severe diverticulitis (ie, systemic signs of infection or peritonitis) Inability to tolerate oral hydration. Failure of outpatient therapy (ie, persistent or increasing fever, pain, or leukocytosis after 2-3 days)
In most cases, diverticulitis can be treated at home with oral antibiotics, but if your condition is severe, a hospital stay may be required. Your doctor will recommend getting plenty of rest, taking medication to control pain, and drinking mainly fluids for the first couple of days of your recovery.
Some people refer to it as a diverticulitis attack or flare-up. The most common symptom is sharp, cramp-like pain in your lower abdomen. The pain may come on suddenly and persist for days without letting up. Usually, the pain is on the left side of the lower abdomen.
In any case, if you experience any of the severe symptoms of diverticulitis or one of the symptoms that mimic something potentially more serious, you should go to the emergency room for treatment as soon as possible.
If you don't treat it, diverticulitis can lead to serious complications that require surgery: Abscesses, collections of pus from the infection, may form around the infected diverticula. If these go through the intestinal wall, you could get peritonitis. This infection can be fatal.
Taking Tylenol (acetaminophen) as directed can take the edge off your pain and help you feel better. Other pain relievers might be your preferred drugs of choice. But when it comes to diverticulitis, acetaminophen is your best bet.
Severe cases of diverticulitis that come on quickly and cause complications will likely require a hospital stay and involve intravenous (IV) antibiotics. A few days without food or drink will help your colon rest. Severe cases of diverticulitis will likely require a hospital stay.
For admitted patients, the median length of stay in the hospital was estimated to be 3 or 4 days (for patients with or without hemorrhage, respectively). The shorter hospital stay in patients with hemorrhage is likely due to the self-limiting nature of diverticular bleeding in most patients.
The most common symptom of diverticulitis is belly or abdominal pain. The most common sign that you have it is feeling sore or sensitive on the left side of your lower belly. If infection is the cause, then you may have fever, nausea, vomiting, chills, cramping, and constipation.
An attack of diverticulitis without complications may respond to antibiotics within a few days if treated early. To help the colon rest, the doctor may recommend bed rest and a liquid diet, along with a pain reliever.
Diverticulitis is treated using diet modifications, antibiotics, and possibly surgery. Mild diverticulitis infection may be treated with bed rest, stool softeners, a liquid diet, antibiotics to fight the infection, and possibly antispasmodic drugs.
Symptoms of diverticulitis may last from a few hours to several days. They may last longer if it's not treated. These symptoms may include: Tenderness, cramps, or pain in the belly.
When one or more of the pouches become inflamed, and in some cases infected, that condition is known as diverticulitis (die-vur-tik-yoo-LIE-tis). Diverticulitis can cause severe abdominal pain, fever, nausea and a marked change in your bowel habits.
Rest, taking over-the-counter medications for pain and following a low-fiber diet or a liquid diet may be recommended until your symptoms improve. Once your symptoms improve, you can slowly return to soft foods, then a more normal diet, which should be one that includes many high-fiber foods.
The commons complications of diverticulitis are bleeding, diverticulitis, peridiverticular abscess, perforation, stricture, and fistula formation. Reports on the complication of a sigmoid colonic diverticulosis sigmoid colovescical fistula are very rare.
Complications of diverticulosis include stricture, bleeding, perforation and fistula formation [1]. Perforation as a result of infected diverticulitis often leads to intra-abdominal sepsis and peritonitis requiring emergency surgery [2].
Without treatment, diverticulitis can lead to an abscess in and around the sac. The inflammation may also narrow the colon or even cause a blocked colon. In the worst case, the colon wall is so damaged it tears, allowing the infection to spread into your abdomen.
Symptoms of diverticulitis
However, the pain associated with diverticulitis is constant and severe, rather than intermittent. It is most likely to occur if you have previously had symptoms of diverticular disease, and develops over a day or two.
In about 95 out of 100 people, uncomplicated diverticulitis goes away on its own within a week. In about 5 out of 100 people, the symptoms stay and treatment is needed.
Mild colonic diverticulitis can be treated without antibiotics.
Antibiotics have been a primary treatment for diverticulitis. But UH colorectal surgeon Trevor Teetor, MD, says recent evidence shows antibiotics are unnecessary for patients with mild cases and no complications.