Diseases of the colon and rectum
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Diverticular disease of the colon is a common disorder, characterized by recurrent symptoms and complications such as diverticulitis, requiring hospital admissions and surgery. ⋯ The treatment for diverticular disease relies mainly on data from uncontrolled studies. Treatment showed some evidence of improvement in symptoms, but its role in the prevention of acute diverticulitis remains to be defined.
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Sacral nerve stimulation has been shown to be an effective treatment for fecal incontinence and early studies reported success rates of 67% to 100%. However, "success" has been arbitrarily set at a 50% reduction in symptoms, and data are rarely reported with "intention to treat." ⋯ This study demonstrates that sacral nerve stimulation can be an effective treatment for patients with fecal incontinence; however, when analyzed by intention to treat, the symptoms of fecal incontinence continue in the majority (74%) of patients.