Ultrasonography for suspected mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis: a prospective head-to-head…

Cohort studyFrontiers in radiology· 2026

Ultrasonography for suspected mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis: a prospective head-to-head study with computed tomography.

Nuria Roson, Andreu Antolin, Miriam Flores-Yelamos … Josep M Badia

Colon & Rectal SurgeryCohort studyDiagnosisQ1IF 3.9

Ultrasound detected 97.9% of acute left colonic diverticulitis cases, matching computed tomography

Ultrasonography for suspected mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis: a prospective head-to-head study with computed tomography.

Nuria Roson … Josep M Badia

Frontiers in radiology · 2026

Background

The preferred imaging modality for acute left colonic diverticulitis (acute left colonic diverticulitis) remains controversial.

Purpose

This prospective study compares ultrasonography (ultrasonography) and computed tomography (computed tomography) in selected patients with clinically suspected mild-to-moderate localised acute left colonic diverticulitis.

Methods

Consecutive patients presenting to the emergency department with suspected localised mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis underwent both ultrasonography and computed tomography within 1 h and before treatment initiation.

n = 50 patients

Results

ultrasound caught nearly all diverticulitis cases, on par with computed tomography

97.9%

Sensitivity

91.7%

Specificity

More results

Higher C-reactive protein levels were associated with higher radiological severity ( p = 0.014).

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Conclusion · 1 of 3

In this selected prospective cohort, ultrasonography performed by experienced abdominal radiologists showed diagnostic estimates similar to computed tomography and identified most acute left colonic diverticulitis cases.

Conclusion · 2 of 3

Given the limited sample size, operator dependence, and non-independent reference standard, these findings should be interpreted cautiously and are most applicable to specialised centres with dedicated ultrasound expertise.

Conclusion · 3 of 3

Clinical Trial Registration : ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05323968.

Ultrasonography for suspected mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis: a prospective head-to-head study with computed tomography.

Ultrasonography for suspected mild-to-moderate acute left colonic diverticulitis: a prospective head-to-head study with computed tomography.

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