Intermittent versus every-day mesalazine therapy in preventing complications of diverticular disease: a long-term follow-up study.

BACKGROUND Mesalazine seems to be effective in preventing recurrence of acute uncomplicated diverticulitis (AUD), but the optimal mesalazine scheme to achieve these results is still debated. AIM To assess the effectiveness of two different mesalazine-based treatments in preventing recurrence of AUD and the occurrence of other complications of diverticular disease (DD) during a long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS We reviewed 311 patients suffer from recent episode of AUD and undergoing to mesalazine treatment: 207 (group A, 105 males, median age 63 years, range 47-74 years) were treated with mesalazine 1.6 g for 10 days each month, whilst 104 (group B, 55 males, median age 65 years, range 50-72 years) were treated with mesalazine 1.6 g every day. Patients were followed-up every 6 months (median 7.5 months, range 5-13 months). RESULTS Patients were followed-up for a mean time of 3 years (range 12-72 months). Overall, occurrence of complication recurred more frequently in group A than in group B (p = 0.030, log-rank test). Acute diverticulitis recurred in 17 (8.2%) patients in group A and in 3 (2.9%) in group B; diverticular bleeding occurred in 4 (1.9%) patients in group A and in 1 (0.96%) patient in group B; surgery was required in 3 (1.4%) patients in group A and in no (0%) patient in group B. CONCLUSIONS This is the first study showing that long-term mesalazine treatment is significantly better that intermittent mesalazine treatment in preventing occurrence of DD complications after an attack of acute diverticulitis.