Your intestine is the long tube in your digestive system that digests food and absorbs nutrients. You have a small intestine and a large intestine. Your large intestine (colon) connects your small intestine to your rectum (the pouch at the end of your large intestine where stool is stored until you pass it).
What is diverticulosis?
In diverticulosis, tiny sacs or pouches form in your large intestine. A single sac is called a diverticulum. More than one sac are called diverticula.
Diverticulosis is common as people get older. By age 60 about half of people have diverticula and by age 80 most people have diverticulosis
Diverticulosis usually causes no symptoms unless 1 or more diverticula bleeds
Diverticulitis is a condition in which 1 or more diverticula get inflamed and painful
Doctors sometimes find diverticulosis when they do a colonoscopy or ultrasound to look for other problems
When doctors are specifically looking for diverticulosis, they will do computed tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)
Eating a high-fiber diet may prevent more sacs from forming
Large Intestine with Diverticula
Diverticula are balloon-like sacs that can develop in the large intestine. |
What causes diverticulosis?
Diverticulosis is probably caused by high pressure in your intestine. A low-fiber diet may cause the increased pressure. The increased pressure causes weak spots in your intestine’s wall to bulge, creating a sac or pouch.
Diverticulosis gets more common as you get older. Almost all people who reach age 80 have diverticulosis.
What are the symptoms of diverticulosis?
Most people with diverticulosis don't have symptoms except sometimes people feel:
Constipated
Cramping belly pain
Bloated
Otherwise, you're unlikely to have symptoms unless you develop complications such as diverticulitis or bleeding.
Sometimes, one of the sacs bleeds, causing blood in your stool. The bleeding usually stops on its own, but it can be heavy.
How can doctors tell if I have diverticulosis?
Doctors find diverticulosis when they do tests for other reasons, such as belly pain, bleeding, or screening for colon cancer. Diverticulosis can show up on the following tests:
Colonoscopy (a test in which a doctor inserts a thin, lighted tube with a small camera through your rectum to look at your intestine)
How do doctors treat diverticulosis?
Doctors don't treat diverticulosis itself, but they may try to prevent its complications by lessening the pressure in your intestine. They'll have you:
Eat a high-fiber diet (lots of vegetables, fruits, and whole grains)
Drink plenty of fluids
Sometimes, eat bran or take supplements to bulk up your stool
Most bleeding stops without treatment. If it doesn't, doctors often do a colonoscopy to:
Close the bleeding area with heat or a laser
Inject the area with medicine
If colonoscopy treatments don't stop the bleeding, doctors may do angiography. In angiography, they thread a small tube through one of your blood vessels into the bleeding spot. Then they inject substances that block off the bleeding blood vessel. People rarely need surgery to stop the bleeding.
