For many years resection in the treatment of colonic diverticulitis was reserved for those cases in which the complications of perforation, obstruction, or fistulation occurred. These operations were associated with high morbidity, significant mortality, and prolonged periods of disability, since they frequently involved staged procedures upon old and debilitated patients. In the past decade, however, a one-stage resection with primary anastomosis has been utilized in this country for the treatment of early colonic diverticular disease and has been demonstrated to be a safe procedure offering excellent results.4,8,13,18-20Coincidental with the increased number of reports in recent surgical literature concerning operations for diverticular disease of the sigmoid colon, there was a noticeable increase in the number of surgical procedures performed for this disease at the Presbyterian and Woman's Hospitals, Pittsburgh. A review of the operative cases from these hospitals was carried out, covering the six-year period of January, 1953, to