Acute perforation of sigmoid diverticula.

Forty patients underwent operative therapy for acute perforation of colonic diverticula. The group I patients had some localization of infection, group II had generalized feculent-purulent contamination with free perforation, and group III had free perforation and were treated with chronic steroids for various medical disorders. The retrospective evaluation was directed at evaluating the effect on survival of methods to treat the hole in the colon and methods to treat peritoneal contamination. It is concluded that control of the perforation in the bowel and aggressive peritoneal irrigation may decrease the high morbidity and mortality rates.