Colonic diverticular disease. Its spectrum in a community hospital.

A retrospective study of 239 patients who were hospitalized for diverticular disease is reported. Two thirds of patients had simple diverticulosis, and the remainder had gastrointestinal bleeding, evidence of microabscess, or more serious complications. The prevalence of bleeding on the left side in this series differs from the prevalence of right-sided bleeding noted in the literature, and this difference is unexplained. Only three patients in this series died (overall mortality, 1.2%); all had other associated life-threatening diseases.