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Long-term treatment with mesalazine in patients with symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease

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Abstract

The aim of this work was to compare the recurrence of diverticulitis during a 5-year follow-up in a population of patients affected by symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease (SUDD), taking either 800 mg of mesalamine b.i.d for 10 days every month or no 5-ASA. Sixty-seven consecutive patients affected by SUDD followed-up every 6 months for 5 years. All patients in this group (M-group) were requested to consume mesalamine 800 mg b.i.d for 10 days every month. A control group (C-group) of 82 subjects with SUDD allocated in an institution for the elderly and taking no 5-ASA medications was also followed-up for the same period. As a result in the M-group 14.9% of patients did not complete the follow-up, and diverticulitis developed in two patients (4%; 95% CI 1.1–13.5). In the C-group 6.1% patients did not complete the follow-up, and diverticulitis developed in 8 patients (10.4%; 95% CI 5.4–19.2). The difference between the two groups was not significant (difference = −6.4%; 95% CI −15.6 to 4.3; log rank test: p = 0.1256). Cyclic treatment with mesalazine seems to be clinical, although not statistically effective in reducing the incidence of diverticulitis. In future well-designed RCTs are necessary to demonstrate the therapeutic gain of the use of mesalazine, if any, in the management of patients with SUDD.

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Conflicts of interest

Luigi Gatta received sponsorship from Sofar. Francesco Di Mario is the consultant for Sofar. Massimo Curlo, Dino Vaira, Alberto Pilotto, Paolo Lucarini, Maurizio Lera, Angelo Franzé, Carmelo Scarpignato: none.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gastroenterology and Endoscopy Unit, Versilia Hospital, Lido di Camaiore, Italy

    Luigi Gatta, Paolo Lucarini & Maurizio Lera

  2. Section of Gastroenterology, Department of Clinical Science, University of Parma, via Gramsci 14, 43100, Parma, Italy

    Luigi Gatta, Francesco Di Mario, Margherita Curlo & Carmelo Scarpignato

  3. Department of Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, S.Orsola-Malpighi Hospital, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Dino Vaira

  4. Geriatric Unit and Gerontology-Geriatrics Research Laboratory, Department of Medical Sciences, IRCCS “Casa Sollievo della Sofferenza,”, San Giovanni Rotondo, FG, Italy

    Alberto Pilotto

  5. Gastroenterological Unit, Parma Hospital, Parma, Italy

    Angelo Franzé

  6. Department of Internal Medicine, Aging and Kidney Disease, Alma Mater Studiorum, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Kajo Enkleda

Authors
  1. Luigi Gatta
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  2. Francesco Di Mario
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  3. Margherita Curlo
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  4. Dino Vaira
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  6. Paolo Lucarini
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  7. Maurizio Lera
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  8. Kajo Enkleda
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  9. Angelo Franzé
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  10. Carmelo Scarpignato
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Correspondence to Luigi Gatta.

Additional information

This study has been presented as an oral presentation at the UEGW 2009 meeting held in London.

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Gatta, L., Di Mario, F., Curlo, M. et al. Long-term treatment with mesalazine in patients with symptomatic uncomplicated diverticular disease. Intern Emerg Med 7, 133–137 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-011-0509-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11739-011-0509-7

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