diverticul-

Plural of diverticulum.

Relating to a diverticulum.

The act of forming diverticula, pockets, etc.

Excision of a diverticulum.

A diverticulum refers to a small sac-like structure that sometimes forms in the walls of the intestines where diverticula can trap particles of food (especially small seeds and undigested grains) and become very inflamed and painful (this condition is called diverticulitis).

As a person ages, pressure within the large intestine (colon) causes pockets of tissue (sacs) that push out from the colon walls. The plural form is diverticula. Diverticula can occur throughout the colon but are most common near the end of the left side of the colon, the sigmoid colon.

In human anatomy, the sigmoid colon is the lower colon (the lower portion of the large bowel).

The word sigmoid came from the Greek letter "sigma" which is shaped like a "C". It also means curved in two directions like the letter "S". A sigmoid curve is an S-shaped curve.

The sigmoid flexure of the colon is the point where it makes the turn from transverse to descending colon.

Sigmoidoscopy is a procedure in which a viewing tube (a sigmoidoscope) is inserted up into the sigmoid colon. The term rectosigmoid refers to both the rectum and the sigmoid colon above it.

1. Inflammation of a diverticulum, especially of the small pockets in the wall of the colon which fill with stagnant fecal material and become inflamed; rarely, they may cause obstruction, perforation, or bleeding.
2. Inflammation of a diverticulum, especially inflammation related to colonic diverticula, which may undergo perforation with abscess formation; sometimes this is called left-sided or L-sided appendicitis.

A roentgenogram of a diverticulum (a herniation through the muscular wall of a tubular organ; especially, the colon.

Development of a granulomatous mass in the wall of the colon.

1. Surgical fixation of a diverticulum in a new position following its separation from the initial adjacent or adherent structures.
2. A plastic operation to obliterate a diverticulum.

1. The presence of diverticula, particularly of colonic diverticula, in the absence of inflammation.
2. Presence of a number of diverticula of the intestine, common in middle age; the lesions are "acquired pulsion diverticula".

1. A circumscribed pouch or sac of variable size occurring normally or created by herniation of the lining mucous membrane through a defect in the muscular coat of a tubular organ.
2. A sac or pouch in the walls of a canal or organ.
3. A pouch or sac opening from a tubular or saccular organ; such as, the gut or bladder.