Stage III
Stage III is given in the case of chronic recurrent (recurrent) diverticulitis. Patients repeatedly complain of pain in the lower abdomen at certain intervals. Sometimes they also have fever, constipation or even air leakage with the urine (so-called champagne urine).
This can happen when repeated inflammatory processes have created a connection between the intestine and the bladder. The air from the intestine can then enter the bladder and leave with the urine. During a colonoscopy, in addition to diverticula, a local narrowing of the bowel (stenosis) or a fistula (connecting passage) may be seen.
The same is then also visible in computer tomography. The intestinal wall is usually thickened. The staging of diverticulitis is important, as it is the basis for the therapy of the disease.
While conservative therapy is usually successful in the early stages of the disease, surgical intervention must be considered in stages IIb and IIc. Therapy in stage III must be chosen individually depending on the patient’s condition.A general indication for surgical treatment of chronic recurrent diverticulitis is no longer given. However, if the disease has already led to severe narrowing of the colon, the affected section of the colon can be completely removed (sigmoid resection).