Hello and welcome to the zero to finals podcast. My name is Tom and in this episode I'm going to be

talking to you about diverticular disease. And you can find written notes on this topic at

0.0.5.com slash diverticulosis or in the general surgery section of the zero to finals surgery book.

So let's get straight into it. A diverticulum, or plural diverticular, is a pouch or pocket in the

bowel wall, usually ranging in size from 0.5 to 1 centimeters.

Diverticulosis refers to the presence of diverticular without inflammation or infection.

Diverticulosis may be referred to as diverticular disease when patients experience symptoms.

Diverticulitis refers to inflammation and infection of diverticular.

Let's talk about the pathophysiology.

The wall of the large intestine contains a layer of muscle called the circular muscle.

The points along the bowel where this muscle layer is penetrated by blood vessels

are areas of weakness. Increased pressure in the lumen over time can cause a gap to form in

these areas of the circular muscle. These gaps allow the mucosa to herniate through the muscle

layer and pouches to form, which we call

diverticular. Diverticular do not form in the rectum because it has an outer longitudinal

muscle layer that completely surrounds the diameter of the rectum adding extra support.

In the rest of the colon, there are three longitudinal muscles that run along the colon

forming strips or ribbons called tiniacoli.

The tiniacoli do not surround the entire diameter of the colon,

and the areas that are not covered by

tiniacolai are vulnerable to the development of diverticula. Let's talk about diverticulosis.

Diverticulosis is sometimes described in layman's terms as wear and tear of the bowel. The most commonly

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