ABSTRACT Objective: we want to present our experience about surgical pathology of Meckel’s diverticulum by means of a retrospective study. Material and methods: we report a group of patients of our Department of General and Abdominal Surgery and Paediatric Surgery of our Hospital with Meckel’s diverticulum since January 1997 to January 2010. We report the clinical presentation, com- plementary test, interventions, and the postoperative follow up. Results: 45 patients were operated in total, 33 of them in emergency surgery under the clinical form of acute abdominal pain; and the others 12 in programmed surgery, these cases came up more frequently like a clinical manifestations of latent abdomi- nal pain, rectal bleeding and anaemia. The complementary tests were so varied; abdominal ultrasounds were used in 63% of emer- gency cases and the 40% of programmed cases, in these patients, gammagraphy with Tc 99 was the second test in frequency. La- paroscopy was used in 10 cases (22%). The main surgery tech- nique used was diverticulectomy (82%). Conclusions: the presence of Meckel’s diverticulum has to be clinically suspected in all patients with abdominal pain of unknown aetiology. Access to the abdominal cavity using routine la- paroscopy provides essential information on the diagnosis and for the treatment. Key words: Diverticulum. Meckel. Surgery. Laparoscopy. INTRODUCTION Meckel’s diverticulum (MD) is a vestigial remnant of the omphalomesenteric duct of the foetal digestive tract, which was not fully reabsorbed before birth. Its preva- lence is approximately 2% in the general population, and in most cases is asymptomatic. However, these diverticu- la can become infected (diverticulitis) in a small number of patients, causing intestinal blockage or bleeding of the mucosa. Meckel’s diverticulitis is frequently misdiag- nosed as appendicitis. It usually presents in the first years of life, but can also occur in adults. The objective of this study was to show the prevalence of this disease in our area and perform a systematic re- view of the literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS We present a series of 45 cases undergoing surgery in the general and paediatric surgery units of our hospital between January 1997 and January 2010. We reviewed all patient records and analysed each patient’s features, presentation of the disease, diagnostic resources used, treatment received, complications and follow-up to final healing. RESULTS A total of 45 patients aged between 0 and 68 years were operated on. Thirty-three of them underwent emer- gency surgery and 12 scheduled surgery; and in 10 cases (22%), laparoscopy was used (4 emergency surgery cases and 6 scheduled surgery cases). Many of the patients had no history of the condition and where it did exist, it was very varied, and no causal relationship could therefore be established. Surgical pathology associated with Meckel's diverticulum in a tertiary hospital: 12 year review Cristina Méndez-García 1 , Juan Manuel Suárez-Grau 2 , Carolina Rubio-Chaves 1 , Juan Antonio Martín-Cartes 1 , Fernando Docobo-Durántez 1 and Javier Padillo-Ruiz 1 Unit of Clinical Management of General and Digestive Surgery. 1 Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío. Seville, Spain. 2 Hospital General Básico de Riotinto. Huelva, Spain 1130-0108/2011/103/5/250-254 REVISTA ESPAÑOLA DE ENFERMEDADES DIGESTIVAS Copyright © 2011 ARÁN EDICIONES, S. L. REV ESP ENFERM DIG (Madrid) Vol. 103. N.° 5, pp. 250-254, 2011 Received: 18-10-10. Accepted: 04-02-11. Correspondence: Cristina Méndez García. Unit of Clinical Management of General and Digestive Surgery. Hospitales Universitarios Virgen del Rocío. Avda. Manuel Siurot, s/n. 41013 Sevilla. Spain e-mail: cmendicea@yahoo.es Méndez-García Cristina, Suárez-Grau Juan Manuel, Rubio- Chaves Carolina, Martín-Cartes Juan Antonio, Docobo-Durántez Fernando, Padillo-Ruiz Javier. Surgical pathology associated with Meckel's diverticulum in a tertiary hospital. 12 year review. Rev Esp Enferm Dig 2011; 103: 250-254. ORIGINALS PAPERS