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Acute diverticulitis attacks can lead to IBS, functional bowel disorder symptoms
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SAN DIEGO — Patients with diverticulitis are prone to developing IBS and other functional bowel disorders after an acute attack, according to data presented at the 2012 Digestive Disease Week Annual Meeting.
Researchers evaluated data from 1,102 patients with diverticulitis (DV) and 1,102 matched controls, all taken from a single medical center between 1996 and 2011. Cases were found through an ICD-9 guided record search, with manual confirmation of the chart through physician review. Incidences of new IBS and related functional bowel disorder (FBD) diagnoses such as functional diarrhea, constipation or abdominal pain following a DV attack were recorded.
Over a 9-year follow-up period (mean follow-up of 35 months), patients with DV were significantly more likely than controls to receive IBS (HR=4.6; 95% CI, 1.6-13.6) and FBD codes (HR=2.4; 95% CI, 1.6-3.4) following a DV attack. Investigators wrote that this is the first study to suggest a longitudinal link between DV and subsequent IBS and FBD diagnoses, and that further study will be conducted to identify potential demographic and clinical predictors of post-diverticulitis IBS.
“A subset of patients with DV won’t have an acute episode that may need surgical intervention or will just resolve with antibiotics,” researcher Erica R. Cohen, MD, told Healio.com. “A significant number of patients will have … IBS after an acute attack. A patient can present with symptoms of IBS months to years later, and if you’re not looking for it, you won’t know to diagnose it. Patients who present with alterations in bowel habits or abdominal pain will not typically respond to antibiotics for DV, and you need to think more about treatments for IBS or functional GI disorders [in those cases].”
For more information:
Cohen ER. #Tu1363: Evidence for Post-Diverticulitis Irritable Bowel Syndrome (Pdv-IBS): Longitudinal Analysis Reveals Higher Incidence of IBS in DV Cases Vs. Controls. Presented at: the 2012 Digestive Disease Week Annual Meeting; May 19-22, San Diego.
Disclosures: Researchers Linnette Yen and Paul Hodgkins reported employment by Shire Pharmaceuticals and Shire Pharmaceuticals Group, respectively.