Comparison of surgical management and outcomes of acute right colic and sigmoid diverticulitis: a French national retrospective cohort study

Background Acute right colic diverticulitis (ARD) is less frequent in Western countries than acute sigmoid diverticulitis (ASD). We aimed to compare the management of ARD and ASD operated on in emergency. Methods All consecutive patients who had emergency surgery for ASD and ARD (2010–2021) were included in a retrospective, multicenter, cohort study. Patients were identified from databases in French centers that were members of the French Surgical Association. Emergency surgery was performed during the same hospitalization for peritonitis or after failure of conservative treatment. Early and late postoperative outcomes were studied. Results A total of 2297 patients were included with 2256 (98.2%) ASD and 41 (1.8%) ARD patients. Baseline characteristics were similar. Overall, patients were rated Hinchey 3–4 (63.9%, n = 1468, p = 0.287). ARD was more often treated with resection and anastomosis, protected or not (53.7%, n = 22), whereas ASD was mainly treated with resection and terminal ostomy (62.5% ( n = 1409), p