Publication date: Jun 16, 2026
BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic strained hospital systems and post-pandemic data on colectomy trends for diverticulitis are limited. We aimed to describe trends in colonic resections in patients with diverticulitis before, during, and after the pandemic. MethodsThis retrospective cohort study queried the American College of Surgeons NSQIP database, analyzing patients who underwent a colectomy for diverticulitis during quarters 2-4 (April 1-December 31) in 2018 (“pre-COVID”), 2020 (“during COVID”), and 2022 (“post-COVID”). The primary study outcome was emergency case rates during the 3 time periods. Secondary outcomes included trends in patient comorbidities, severity of presenting illness, 30-day postoperative complications, and disposition status. ResultsA total of 21,642 patients were studied (7163 pre-COVID, 6254 during COVID, and 8225 post-COVID). Emergency cases of diverticulitis increased to 21% during the COVID period but remained at 17% and 18% during the pre-COVID and post-COVID periods, respectively (P
| Concepts | Keywords |
|---|---|
| American | colorectal |
| December | COVID |
| Diverticulitis | diverticulitis |
| Postoperative | general surgery |
| pandemic |
Semantics
| Type | Source | Name |
|---|---|---|
| disease | MESH | Diverticulitis |
| disease | MESH | COVID-19 Pandemic |
| disease | MESH | emergency |
| disease | MESH | included |
| disease | MESH | postoperative complications |
| disease | MESH | Long Covid |