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A gastrointestinal diverticulum is congenital or acquired, limited and having a diameter of a few millimeters to several centimeters, bulging of the wall (at the same time widening of the lumen) of a specific organ to the outside, causing a smaller or larger depression.
Digestive diverticula – definition
Gastrointestinal diverticula can be single or multiple. With more of them, we are talking about diverticulosis of a specific part of the duct. They sometimes have the shape of a pedunculated bladder, the light of which connects to the mother organ thanks to the narrow light of the peduncle.
Diverticula are not actually a disease state, but only a part of disorders at the stage of development (congenital diverticula) or a consequence of some medical ailment that led to a segmental weakening of the organ wall, which then becomes bulged (acquired diverticula). They are formed in every place of the gastrointestinal tract, but with a different frequency in its individual sections – usually, however, and in the greatest amount in the large intestine, especially in its further part.
Typically single diverticula of the gastrointestinal tract are present in the esophagus; in larger sizes they lead to problems with swallowing and cause an unpleasant smell from the mouth. They are extremely rare in the stomach and small intestine.
Symptoms of gastrointestinal diverticula
Symptoms of patients with gastrointestinal diverticula are non-specific.
The presence of diverticula in the digestive tract contributes to the longer retention of the digestive content in them, its rotting, and sometimes even the formation of inflammation within them. They can favor – especially in periods of inflammation – the formation of various digestive disorders, flatulence and abdominal pain. A rare but dangerous surgical complication may be a rupture of the diverticulum wall due to its excessive stretching by content or gases accumulated in it, or destruction by inflammation. The contaminated contents then spread between the surrounding tissues, causing inflammation. It is then necessary to perform an emergency surgery.
How to recognize gastrointestinal diverticula?
Detection of diverticula of the gastrointestinal tract is usually accidental, usually during radiological or endoscopic examination (i.e. endoscopy), which are performed to accurately determine the causes of difficult-to-diagnose ailments. Congenital diverticulosis may have a genetic predisposition.
Gastrointestinal diverticula – treatment
Treatment of diverticula in the asymptomatic period is practically not required. On the other hand, if inflammation is found, anti-inflammatory treatment is required.
In periods of exacerbation of diverticula of the gastrointestinal tract, a low-residual diet and periodically used liquid diets in the form of vegetable decoctions, good-quality water, including still mineral waters and juices, are effective. Significant difficulty in swallowing at esophageal diverticula and any surgical complications (e.g., haemorrhage, perforation, obstruction symptoms, and peritoneal inflammatory reactions) should be treated by surgery.