• Giovanni Santacroce, Marco Vincenzo Lenti, Giulia Maria Abruzzese, Giacomo Alunno, Francesco Di Terlizzi, Carmine Frenna, Antonella Gentile, Mario Andrea Latorre, Clarissa Petrucci, Damiano Ruggeri, Simone Soriano, Nicola Aronico, Carlo Maria Rossi, Annalisa De Silvestri, Gino Roberto Corazza, and Antonio Di Sabatino.
• Department of Internal Medicine and Medical Therapeutics, University of Pavia, Pavia, Italy.
• Intern Emerg Med. 2024 Jan 1; 19 (1): 9910699-106.

AbstractThe magnitude of the diagnostic delay of symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD) is unknown; we aimed to evaluate SUDD diagnostic delay and its risk factors. SUDD patients diagnosed at a tertiary referral centre were retrospectively enrolled (2010-2022). Demographic and clinical data were retrieved. Overall, patient-, and physician-dependant diagnostic delays were assessed. Univariate and multivariate analyses were fitted to identify risk factors for diagnostic delay. Overall, 70 SUDD patients (median age 65 years, IQR 52-74; F:M ratio = 1.6:1) were assessed. The median overall diagnostic delay was 7 months (IQR 2-24), patient-dependant delay was 3 months (IQR 0-15), and physician-dependant delay was 1 month (IQR 0-6). Further, 25% of patients were misdiagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS). At multivariate analysis, previous misdiagnosis was a significant risk factor for overall and physician-dependant diagnostic delay (OR 9.99, p = 0.01, and OR 6.46, p = 0.02, respectively). Also, a high educational level (> 13 years) was associated with a greater overall diagnostic delay (OR 8.74 p = 0.02), while previous abdominal surgery was significantly associated to reduced physician-dependant diagnostic delay (OR 0.19 p = 0.04). To conclude, SUDD may be diagnosed late, IBS being the most frequent misdiagnosis. Timely diagnosis is crucial to tackle the burden of SUDD on patients and healthcare.© 2023. The Author(s).

13 keywords...

hide…