Prospective randomized trial comparing short-term antibiotic therapy versus standard therapy for acute uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis

To date, the standard therapy used for acute episodes of uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis has been a 7-10-day antibiotic treatment regimen. Thanks to the development of highly potent, broad-spectrum antibiotics such as ertapenem, the question arises as to whether the duration of treatment of acute uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis can be reduced by using highly effective antibiotics. To compare the efficacy of short-term therapy (4 days) versus standard therapy (7 days) for uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis, a prospective randomized multicenter trial was conducted. Patients were randomized to treatment groups after 4 days. Both patient groups were monitored until discharge and were followed up after 4-6 weeks and 52 months. The results were standardized and statistically evaluated. Between 16 December 2004 and 15 November 2007, 123 patients from 11 hospitals were enrolled in the study. Seventeen patients dropped out. In the remaining 106 cases, no significant differences were discerned between the two groups in terms of the basic data, apart from the mean number of diverticulitis episodes (short term 1.28 +/- 0.64 versus standard 1.64 +/- 1.07, p = 0.037). The mean hospital stay was 8.8 days, with significant differences seen between short-term and standard therapy (7.8 +/- 2.8 versus 9.7 +/- 3.2 days; p = 0.002). After 4 days, treatment was classified as having proved successful in 98.0% of cases and after 7 days in 98.2% of cases. An overall success rate of 95.1% (94.0% versus 96.2%, n.s.) was recorded after 1 month. The results obtained with short-term ertapenem therapy (4 days) showed that this was as effective as standard therapy (7 days) for treatment of uncomplicated sigmoid diverticulitis.