Intraluminal pressure in the sigmoid colon. II. Patients with sigmoid diverticula and related conditions.

Patients with lower abdominal symptoms, indicating colonic disorder, were classified into predefined clinical syndromes. Two important syndromes were colicky sigmoid syndrome and chronic diverticular disease. The first one, characterized by presence of colicky lower abdominal pains but absence of colonic diverticula, probably covers what is generally referred to as 'irritable bowel syndrome'. The second one was characterized by presence of lower abdominal colics and of colonic diverticula. The results showed a significant correlation between the presence of lower abdominal colics and a high pressure activity in the sigmoid colon after intravenous neostigmine. There was, however, no correlation between the presence of diverticula and a high pressure activity. The generally accepted theory of a high pressure activity as the dominant factor in the pathogenesis of colonic diverticula, therefore, was questioned, as was the equally accepted theory of a gradual development of chronic diverticular disease from the adiverticular colicky sigmoid syndrome.