Emergency Imaging: Acute abdominal pain
An 89-year-old woman who initially presented for evaluation of acute chest pain and headache developed acute abdominal pain.
Emergency Medicine. 2016 October;48(10):467-469 | 10.12788/emed.2016.0061
October 6, 2016|Emergency Medicine
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Management
Complications caused by GCD occur in 15% to 35% of cases and most commonly include perforation with associated peritonitis and abscess formation.4 Due to associated morbidity, the preferred treatment is surgical management—even when GCD is found incidentally in asymptomatic patients. In uncomplicated cases, surgical resection of the diverticulum and adjacent colon is performed with primary colic anastomosis. In some cases, a diverting ileostomy is created. In the presence of perforation and/or abscess, percutaneous catheter drainage and two-stage colectomy with colostomy typically is performed.5
