Giant colonic diverticulum: Report of a case

Giant colonic diverticulum is a rare complication of colonic diverticulosis . It typically occurs as a single diverticulum located on the antimesenteri c border of the sigmoid colon. The most widely accepted theory for its deve lopment attributes the progressive dilation to a "ball-valve" mechanism all owing air to enter but not to exit. Patients usually present complaining of abdominal pain and/or an abdominal mass, although they may remain asymptom atic, Physical examination reveals a tympanic abdominal mass that appears a s a round radiolucency on plain radiographs and CT. Barium enema demonstrat es the relationship of the diverticulum to bowel and may document communica tion with the colonic lumen, To alleviate symptoms and prevent complication s, the recommended treatment is excision of the diverticulum in continuity with the involved colonic segment. We report a case and discuss the present ation, diagnosis, and management of giant colonic diverticulum.