Economic burden of diverticular disease: An observational analysis based on real world data from an Italian region

Diverticular disease (DD), a herniation of the colonic mucosa through the muscle layer, covers a wide variety of conditions associated with the presence of diverticula in the colon. The most serious form is an acute episode of diverticulitis, which can lead to hospitalization and surgery with various types of consequences. The main aim of this study is to evaluate the economic burden of hospitalizations arising from acute episodes of diverticulitis using data from the administrative databases used in the Marche region in Italy and, as a secondary objective of this real-world data analysis, to study patient outcome variables following initial hospitalization for diverticulitis.