Symptoms of colonic diverticula in the elderly

When you are sick, you feel that not being sick is happiness. When you can’t sleep, you feel that being able to sleep well is happiness. However, healthy people often cannot feel such happiness, which is also a manifestation of modern people's dissatisfaction. Especially the elderly who have struggled all their lives and have always been in good health, but when the disease comes, it is like a mountain overwhelms them, and they simply cannot accept it. For example, colon diverticulum in the elderly is something that many people have never heard of, but it can make people suffer.

Many diseases will have some obvious symptoms in the early stages, but because most people do not pay attention to those symptoms, they miss the best time for treatment. So what are the specific symptoms of colon diverticulum in the elderly? Let's learn about it below.

The vast majority of patients with colonic diverticula, if they do not have diverticulitis, often have no clinical symptoms and are only discovered accidentally during imaging examinations for other digestive system diseases. Typical symptoms of diverticulitis include abdominal pain, fever, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, constipation, and diarrhea. Since the sigmoid colon is the most common site of diverticula, abdominal pain is mostly in the lower abdomen, especially the left lower abdomen. It can also be manifested in the midline of the lower abdomen or in the right lower abdomen depending on the location of the diverticula. The pain can be mild or severe, depending on the severity of the inflammation. During physical examination, local muscle tension and tenderness may be found, and sometimes an inflammatory mass may be felt, which is similar to appendicitis, so some people call it "left-sided appendicitis." Sometimes patients may experience right lower abdominal pain, in which case it is important to distinguish it from appendicitis. Colonoscopy can reveal changes such as intestinal mucosal congestion and edema, and abdominal plain films can show a congested intestinal loop, called a sentinel loop. Barium enema examination can show segmental spasm, mucosal edema, fixation and even intestinal stenosis. However, some people believe that colonoscopy is not suitable during the acute inflammatory stage to avoid aggravating the condition and causing intestinal rupture. Sometimes, spasm of a longer segment of the sigmoid colon is difficult to differentiate from obstructive colon cancer, and fiber colonoscopy is often recommended in this case.

Through the introduction of the above content, we can understand that the symptoms of colon diverticulum in the elderly are not very easy to judge in the early stage. The elderly need to undergo regular physical examinations and solve the problems as soon as possible when they are found. It is best to ask a professional doctor to receive treatment in a regular hospital and take medicine according to the doctor's orders. Do not delay treatment because of being reluctant to spend money.