[Sigmoid diverticulitis. Surgical indications and timing].

Indication and time for surgery of diverticular disease are determined by the stage of the disease. Clinically pragmatic pretreatment staging is thus a prerequisite for stage-adapted therapy. The correct indication for surgery is also based on knowledge of the spontaneous disease course, its course after conservative and operative therapy and the individual risk factors for complicated diverticular disease. Surgery is not indicated for bland diverticulosis or uncomplicated diverticulitis. It is generally indicated, however, for acute complicated diverticulitis. Decisive in establishing the indication for surgery is therefore the precise pretherapeutic differentiation of complicated and uncomplicated diverticulitis. Depending on the type of complication and the clinical appearance, the time for surgery of acute complicated diverticulitis is fixed on an emergency or early elective basis following initial conservative and/or interventional therapy. Chronically recurrent diverticulitis is likewise an indication for surgery. In terms of timing, an elective interval operation is best after the second inflammatory episode but should already be performed after the first one in risk groups, e.g. immunosuppressed patients.