PAIN IN LOWER LEFT QUADRANT WITH FEVER AND CHANGE IN BOWELS: TREATMENT
If your doctor determines that you have diverticulitis, you will need to be hospitalized. In addition, you will not be able to eat solid food or drink liquids for several days, since you will need to rest the bowel to clear up the condition. You will be given intravenous antibiotics and fluids, and a CAT scan will be done with a modified barium enema. This will serve two purposes. First, it will empty out your intestines, which will allow them to rest. Second, the barium will enable your intestines to show up on an X ray so that your doctor can examine the diverticula and determine if the infection is limited to a few diverticular pockets or has spread to form an infectious abscess. When your fever and pain disappear after about five days, you will be able to drink liquids again, and within a few days you will be able to eat solid food.
In most cases, surgery is not necessary to treat diverticulitis; only when an abscess has formed will surgery be considered. And, contrary to popular opinion, diverticulitis is not a preindication of cancer.
To prevent a recurrence of diverticulitis, you will need to exercise regularly and follow a high-fiber, low-fat diet, since a diet that’s high in fat slows the bowel transit time, as does a diet low in fiber, which aggravates the diverticula. The combination of exercise, high fiber, and low fat seems to speed up the bowel transit time and helps to eliminate the problem. You should also avoid eating nuts, seeds, popcorn, and foods with an indigestable hull such as corn.
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