There are no official guidelines to assist in answering this question. I will search for relevant research papers instead.
From the Research
Comparison of Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (Sed rate) and C-Reactive Protein (CRP) for Diagnosing Diverticulitis
- There are no direct comparisons between Sed rate and CRP for diagnosing diverticulitis in the provided studies.
- However, the studies suggest that CRP is a useful tool in predicting the clinical severity of acute diverticulitis 1, 2, 3, 4.
- A CRP cutoff value of 170 mg/L can significantly discriminate severe from mild diverticulitis, with a sensitivity of 87.5% and specificity of 91.1% 1.
- A CRP value over 150 mg/L can predict complicated diverticulitis, with a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 65% 2.
- The optimal threshold for CRP to predict complicated diverticulitis is 175 mg/L, with a positive predictive value of 36%, negative predictive value of 92%, sensitivity of 61%, and specificity of 82% 3.
- Other inflammatory parameters, such as neutrophil-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and platelet-lymphocyte ratio, may also be useful in diagnosing and predicting the severity of acute diverticulitis 5.
- Low CRP values do not reliably predict uncomplicated disease in patients with acute diverticulitis, and abdominal CT should be carefully evaluated according to the patient's clinical status, even with CRP values under 150 mg/L 4.