Hospital Presentations of Acute Diverticulitis During COVID-19 Pandemic may be More Likely to Require Surgery due to Increased Severity: A Single-Centre Experience.

Background: The novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has resulted in fewer emergency presentations of many acute medical and surgical conditions. The purpose of this study was to assess the severity of disease at presentation and quantify the change in number of presentations during this period.

Methods: This retrospective study includes all patients diagnosed with acute diverticulitis on abdominopelvic computerised tomography (CT) between March 1, 2020 and June 30, 2020, compared to the same period in 2019.

A Case of Small Bowel Obstruction and Enterocutaneous Fistulation Resulting from a Mesenteric Haematoma following Blunt Abdominal Trauma.

A 23-year-old male with a history of previous abdominal surgery was involved in a road traffic accident. He was discharged after initial assessment but represented several days with small bowel obstruction secondary to a mesenteric haematoma. He underwent resection and recovered well but represented later on the day of discharge with a leaking surgical wound consistent with an enterocutaneous fistula.

Asymptomatic giant appendicolith managed conservatively.

A 67-year-old lady was found to have a giant appendicolith during a colorectal cancer screening colonoscopy, following a positive faecal occult blood test. Computed tomography confirmed the presence of a calcified giant appendicolith within the base of the appendix, which otherwise appeared normal. Appendicoliths are widely believed to be a major cause of acute appendicitis via obstruction of the appendix lumen, although this is disputed due to a lack of strong evidence.

An unusual case of fever and a sigmoid mass.

A 52-year-old Afro-Caribbean female presented with a 2-week history of left iliac fossa pain and persistent fever. The working diagnosis was diverticulitis and she was treated with intravenous antibiotics. A CT scan of the abdomen showed a thickened sigmoid colon lying adjacent to the left bladder wall with inflammatory changes present.