EAES/SAGES consensus conference on acute diverticulitis: a paradigm shift in the management of acute diverticulitis

Excerpt

There are many differences between the 1999 and 2019 statements on diverticulitis, testifying to the evolution of the surgical treatment of this disorder. The 1999 consensus focuses on the overall diagnosis and treatment of diverticular disease, whereas the 2019 statement also includes significant information on the management of acute diverticulitis. The composition of the consensus conferences also greatly varies; the 1999 version included 16 international experts, all of whom were from Europe. Levels of evidence were not used nor was a Delphi analysis employed. In contrast, the EAES/SAGES conference that created the 2019 statement was an international project with a core group of 24 experts representing the EU, the US, and Canada. Supplementing this steering group of 24 experts and residents from the 2 societies were 2 project leads and 2 librarians. Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation methodology was used. Levels of evidence were rated as high, moderate, low, or very low quality for each statement. The result is 54 consensus statements and 41 recommendations across 6 broad topic areas. The 2019 consensus document was derived from 1004 complete surveys and over 300 live votes at the diverticulitis consensus conference. The fact that consensus was achieved for 40 of 41 (97.6%) of recommendations with 38 of 41 (92%) agreement in this 2019 project is evidence of impressive success; the leaders and participants should be proud of this work. Practitioners and patients will clearly benefit from the clarity provided. …