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Aim: Laparoscopic peritoneal lavage has increasingly been investigated as a promising alternative to sigmoidectomy for perforated diverticulitis with purulent peritonitis. Most studies only reported outcomes up to 12 months. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate long‐term outcomes of patients treated with laparoscopic lavage. Methods: Between 2008 and 2010, 38 patients treated with laparoscopic lavage for perforated diverticulitis in 10 Dutch teaching hospitals were included. Long‐term follow‐up data on patient outcomes, e.g. diverticulitis recurrence, reoperations and readmissions, were collected retrospectively. The characteristics of patients with recurrent diverticulitis or complications requiring surgery or leading to death, categorized as 'overall complicated outcome', were compared with patients who developed no complications or complications not requiring surgery. Results: The median follow‐up was 46 months (interquartile range 7–77), during which 17 episodes of recurrent diverticulitis (seven complicated) in 12 patients (32%) occurred. Twelve patients (32%) required additional surgery with a total of 29 procedures. Fifteen patients (39%) had a total of 50 readmissions. Of initially successfully treated patients (n = 31), 12 (31%) had recurrent diverticulitis or other complications. At 90 days, 32 (84%) patients were alive without undergoing a sigmoidectomy. However, seven (22%) of these patients eventually had a sigmoidectomy after 90 days. Diverticulitis‐related events occurred up to 6 years after the index procedure. Conclusion: Long‐term diverticulitis recurrence, re‐intervention and readmission rates after laparoscopic lavage were high. A complicated outcome was also seen in patients who had initially been treated successfully with laparoscopic lavage with relevant events occurring up to 6 years after initial surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This multicentre retrospective cohort study included 447 patients with Hinchey Ib and II diverticular abscesses, who were treated with antibiotics, with or without percutaneous drainage. Abscesses of 3 and 5 cm in size were at higher risk of short‐term treatment failure and emergency surgery respectively. Initial non‐surgical treatment of Hinchey Ib and II diverticular abscesses was comparable between patients treated with antibiotics only and those who underwent percutaneous drainage in combination with antibiotics, with regard to short‐ and long‐term outcomes. Most do not need drainage [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]