Diagnosis and management of jejunoileal diverticular hemorrhage: a decade of experience

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to evaluate the clinical features and management of jejunoileal diverticular hemorrhage at Changhua Christian Hospital over the past decade. METHODS: A retrospective study on the clinical features, treatment and outcomes of the patients with jejunoileal diverticular hemorrhage diagnosed from January 2000 to December 2010 was conducted. RESULTS: Twenty‐eight patients (male to female ratio 15:13) were enrolled in the study with a mean age of 73.9 years. Symptoms consisted of bloody stool (46.4%), tarry stool (82.1%), coffee ground vomitus (7.1%) and shock (39.3%). The mean duration of hospital stay was 13.5 days and the mean blood transfusion volume was 13.5 units. Eight patients (28.6%) underwent surgical resection, 9 (32.1%) received endoscopic therapy and 11 (39.3%) were administered conservative therapy. Five patients (17.9%) had recurrent bleeding during the follow‐up. Two patients (7.1%) died eventually. CONCLUSIONS: The management of jejunoileal diverticular hemorrhage has mainly been nonsurgical at our institution over the past decade. The decreased requirement of surgical intervention might be attributed to the improvement of diagnostic and treatment procedures during this period.