Acute presentations of Jejejunal diverticulosis - a literature review of the uncommon entity

Abstract Introduction Jejunal diverticula are distinctly less common than their colonic counterparts, 60% of patients with small intestinal diverticula have concomitant colonic diverticula. Although Jejunal diverticula are relatively asymptomatic, they can present with life-threatening complications such as perforation, bleeding, obstruction. Due to their rarity, reporting radiologists, as well as emergency surgeons, may be unfamiliar with the imaging findings of complicated Jejunal diverticular disease. Methods A retrospective review of medical records was carried out for a period of 6 years from 2015–2021, in a large district general hospital in Kent, UK. We included all patients who had complications of Jejunal diverticulosis and were treated by the surgical teams during this period, regardless of whether they were managed operatively or conservatively. Following a retrospective review of the medical records epidemiological data, comorbidities of patients, we reviewed the images of CT scans obtained during the emergency admissions retrospectively with a consultant radiologist with more than 20 years of gastrointestinal radiology. Conclusion Although Jejunal diverticula are very rare and mostly asymptomatic, their complications can be lethal. Therefore emergency surgeons should suspect their presence, especially in elderly patients presenting with nonspecific abdominal pain and acute abdomen with no clear etiology identified for complications seen on cross-sectional imaging. A high index of suspicion and Surgical exploration [minimally invasive if the expertise is available] can be both diagnostic and therapeutic.