Diverticulitis is the inflamed state of diverticulosis. Diverticulosis is the condition of the colon having several sacs or diverticuli. This condition is common among individuals who don’t take high fiber foods. These foods are helpful in regulating bowel movements and avoid constipation which adds pressure to the colon.
This condition can have several symptoms like abdominal cramping, diarrhea, constipation, and fever. If you’ve been feeling these symptoms for some time even without any food causes, you may want to get some tests to find out if this is caused by diverticulitis or others.
Here are some of the tests the physician would do to find out if they’re caused by this condition:
- Palpation of the abdomen: This is the test where the physician would feel the belly to see if there are masses formed on it. Upon palpation, patients will take note if masses are felt on it and indicate it’s caused by diverticulosis. These masses are signs of abscess formation on the colon, which is one of its complications. Presence of these abscesses is indicatory of the presence of this condition.
- Rectal examination: Most of the time, rectal examination can also find out if these abscesses are present on the colon. This can be considered as a good way of testing for this condition since the examination will be done on the rectal area itself, which is a part of the colon.
- CT scan: This is considered to be the most accurate testing for diverticulitis.It’s operated by experts who can take images of internal organs through a high end medical imaging machine. These experts can read these images by looking if there are thickened areas. These thick areas indicate the inflamed locations and can point out to the inflamed diverticuli. Once they found it, they can contact the primary care provider or prescribe the best solution a person can get.
- Blood testing for white blood cell: As mentioned above, diverticulitis is an inflamed from of diverticulosis and may be infected. Since there’s infection, the physicians may check the white blood cell levels to see if they are higher than the normal level. High white blood cells indicate infection since they need to multiply to fight the infection source. This test may be done by the physician if the patient shows symptoms of this condition together with fever. Results of this will be noted and consider it for providing medications.
In conclusions, diverticulitis may be experienced by anyone these days especially when people don’t really focus on their gastrointestinal health. You now have an idea what possible tests your physician can do to you once you experience these symptoms. This is to rule out other possible gastrointestinal conditions with the same symptoms and get immediate treatment for it.