Diverticulitis Symptoms & Diagnosis

Symptoms

Symptoms can come on suddenly. They vary depending on the degree of the infection.

Symptoms include:

• Abdominal pain
• Tenderness, usually in the left lower abdomen
• Swollen and hard abdomen
• Fever
• Chills
• Poor appetite
• Nausea
• Vomiting
• Diarrhea
• Constipation
• Both diarrhea and constipation
• Cramping
• Rectal bleeding

Diagnosis

The doctor will ask about your symptoms and medical history. A physical and rectal exam will be done.

Finding the disease early is important. The pouch can break, releasing stool into the abdomen. This is a surgical medical emergency.

Tests may include:

• Analysis of a stool sample to look for blood
• Blood tests to look for signs of infection, inflammation, and bleeding
• X-rays to look for a rupture
• CT scan or ultrasound to locate and determine the size of the inflamed pouch

Once the inflammation subsides, other tests may be performed, including:

• Barium enema —injection of a dye into the rectum that makes your colon show up on an x-ray so the doctor can see abnormal pouches in your colon
• Flexible sigmoidoscopy —a thin, lighted camera is inserted into the rectum to examine the rectum and the lower colon
• Colonoscopy —a thin, lighted camera is inserted through the rectum and into the colon to examine the entire lining of the colon