[How threatening is a diverticulitis: what do we know about the long-term course?].

In the context of the controversy regarding the appropriate management of colon diverticulitis without generalised peritonitis - conservative or operative - a review of the literature was per-formed. The progress in diagnostic and therapeutic measures has led to a change in the therapeutic approach during the last 10 years. Because of the lack of randomised controlled trials in patients with diverticulitis (without generalised -peritonitis) comparing medical and surgical treatments, there are still several unanswered questions, such as whether and when to operate and what the recurrence rate is, especially after medical treatment. The therapeutic management should be oriented to the individual symptoms, the comorbidity and the age of the patients.