The decision whether to operate for diverticular disease and the appropriate selection of right candidates for elective colectomy after recovery from an uncomplicated episode of acute diverticulitis remains controversial. Although both the impact of symptomatic disease and occurrence of its complications are extensively studied, there is no consensus about the role of elective colonic resection in the management of symptomatic recurrent diverticulitis. In this study, the database of ERIC, the Web of Science, EMBASE, and MEDLINE were searched for the English-language published articles about the functional outcomes and symptomatic improvement in patients after elective surgery for diverticular disease. A majority of clinical trials showed that elective surgery following a successful conservative treatment of acute diverticulitis resulted in significantly better social and functional well-being. In addition, elective surgery greatly reduces the potential events of disease recurrence, thus decreasing financial burden on the national health services. However, to obtain the best functional outcome surgical intervention must be individualized and tailored to meet every single patient's specific indigenous symptomatology.
Keywords: Diverticular disease; Functional outcomes; Intestinal symptoms; Quality of life; Sigmoid resection.