Right-Sided Colonic Diverticula as a Cause of Acute Rectal Hemorrhage

Of 27 patients with acute rectal hemorrhage studied by emergency selective arteriography, the bleeding point was demonstrated in 18. Fifteen of these were in the colon, and 13 were secondary to diverticulosis. Twelve of the offending diverticula were located to the right of the splenic flexure. Nine were in the ascending colon. Emergency arteriography was the only method that consistently demonstrated the bleeding point in these patients. The location of the majority of bleeding diverticula in the ascending colon weighs strongly against the use of emergency sigmoid colectomy in this group of patients.