A historical review of surgery for peritonitis secondary to acute colonic diverticulitis: from Lockhart-Mummery to evidence-based medicine

Table 1 Hinchey classification of perforated diverticulitis

Hinchey stage	Features of disease
Stage I^a	Diverticulitis with a pericolic abscess
Stage II^b	Diverticulitis with a distant abscess (this may be retroperitoneal or pelvic)
Stage III	Purulent peritonitis
Stage IV	Fecal peritonitis

^aStage I has been divided into Ia (phlegmon) and Ib (confined pericolic abscess)
^bStage II has been divided into distant abscesses amendable for percutaneous drainage (stage IIa) and complex abscesses associated with a possible fistula (stage IIb)

ISSN: 1749-7922