• Yolanda Ribas, Jordi Bombardó, Francesc Aguilar, Esther Jovell, Manel Alcantara-Moral, Francesc Campillo, Xavier Lleonart, and Xavier Serra-Aracil.
• Department of Surgery, Consorci Sanitari de Terrassa, Carretera de Torrebonica s/n, Terrassa, Spain. ribas.yolanda@gmail.com
• Int J Colorectal Dis. 2010 Nov 1; 25 (11): 1363-70.

IntroductionMedical treatment of uncomplicated acute diverticulitis is not standardized, and there is an enormous diversity in clinical practice. Our aim was to demonstrate that uncomplicated diverticulitis can be managed with orally administered amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid and a short hospital admission.MethodsA prospective randomized trial was established to compare patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis who received oral antibiotic after a short course of intravenous antibiotic with those who received intravenous antibiotic for a longer period. The antibiotic treatment consisted of amoxicillin plus clavulanic acid 1 g every 8 h. We included 50 patients, 25 in each group. Patients in group 1 began oral antibiotic as soon as they improved and were discharged the day after. Patients in group 2 received intravenous antibiotic for 7 days. Both groups received oral antibiotic at discharge. The endpoint of the study was "failure of treatment," which was defined as the impossibility of discharging on the expected day, emergency admission, or hospital readmission.ResultsBoth groups were comparable in patient demographics and clinical characteristics. Most patients clearly improved between 24 and 48 h after admission. There were no significant differences between the groups when comparing failure of treatment. Treatment of patients in group 1 represented a savings in hospitalization costs of 1,244 per patient.ConclusionsMost patients with uncomplicated diverticulitis can be managed safely with oral antibiotic; thus, a very short hospital stay is a safe option.

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