Long-term health-related quality of life after minimally invasive surgery for diverticular disease

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: The aim of this multicentric study was to evaluate the disease specific and the generic quality of life in patients affected by colonic diverticular disease (DD) who had undergone minimally invasive or open colonic resection or who had been treated with medical therapy in the long-term follow-up. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Seventy-one consecutive patients admitted to the departments of surgery of Padova and Arzignano Hospitals for DD were interviewed: 22 underwent minimally invasive colonic resection, 24 had open resection, and 25 had only medical therapy. The interview focused on disease specific and generic quality of life, body image, and disease activity. RESULTS: Padova Inflammatory Bowel Disease Quality of Life (PIBDQL) was validated for the use in DD patients. PIBDQL scores were significantly worse in all patients with DD than those obtained by healthy subjects and it correlated with the symptoms score. The generic quality of life seemed similar in patients who had minimally invasive colonic resection compared with healthy subjects. Body Image Questionnaire scores correlated inversely with the presence of a stoma. CONCLUSIONS: Disease activity resulted as the only independent predictor of the disease-specific quality of life. In fact, DD affected bowel function and quality of life of patients in the long-term follow-up regardless of the type of therapy adopted. The presence of a stoma affected the patients' body image.