diverticulosis
Meaning of diverticulosis: Diverticulosis is the presence of multiple diverticula in the colon wall, usually causing no symptoms unless they become inflamed.
Definition of diverticulosis
Diverticulosis is a condition marked by the presence of multiple diverticula, small pouches that bulge outward from the wall of a hollow organ, most often the colon. It becomes more common with advancing age and is thought to relate in part to sustained pressure within the colon over time.
Diverticulosis usually produces no symptoms and is frequently discovered incidentally during a colonoscopy or imaging study performed for an unrelated reason. In some people, however, one or more of these pouches can become inflamed or infected, a condition called diverticulitis, which can cause abdominal pain, fever, and a change in bowel habits.
Because diverticulosis itself is generally silent, it is distinguished clinically from diverticulitis largely by the presence of inflammation, and most people with diverticulosis never go on to develop the inflamed, symptomatic form of the condition.
Used in a sentence
Diverticulosis was noted incidentally during a screening colonoscopy in an otherwise asymptomatic patient.
Good to know
Most people with diverticulosis remain without symptoms indefinitely, so the finding alone does not predict that diverticulitis will eventually develop.
Word origin
Where “diverticulosis” comes from
Formed from Latin diverticulum, meaning a turning aside or bypath, combined with the Greek suffix -osis, denoting a condition.