Diverticulitis in the young is not more aggressive than in the elderly, but it tends to recur more often: systematic review and meta-analysis.

Background And Aim: For years, the natural course of diverticulitis in the young has been debatable in terms of its severity and recurrence rate, and no consensus has been reached regarding its treatment and timing of surgery. Thus, the study aims to evaluate by meta-analysis the natural course of acute diverticulitis in the young.

Methods: Data were obtained from electronic databases and manual search of studies comparing the course of diverticulitis in young versus elderly patients.