Gastrointestinal symptoms in COVID-19 patients

Marija Brankovic, Igor Jovanovic, Tijana Radonjic, Igor Pancevski, Ilija Bukurecki, Marija Dukic, Viseslav Popadic, Slobodan Klasnja, Marija Zdravkovic
2022 Vojnosanitetski Pregled  
Background/Aim. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a global threat and a huge problem for our community. There are so many opened questions. The aim of this study is to establish the frequency of gastrointestinal symptoms in hospitalized patients with this infection, but also to compare if patients with gastrointestinal symptoms have higher CT scan severity score of interstitial pneumonia. Methods. Our database comprises 322 patients who were divided into two
more » ... patients with and without gastrointestinal symptoms. All the information was taken from anamnestic data and patient?s history, followed by statistical analysis. Results. Thorax CT scans of 206 patients (63.97%) were described as bilateral interstitial pneumonia and 76 CT scans (36.89%) were described by radiologists as the peak of infection. Moreover, 130 patients (40.37%) had gastrointestinal symptoms, and even 58 out of 130 patients (44.62%) reported gastrointestinal symptoms as the first manifestation of COVID-19 infection. The most commonly reported one was a lack of appetite (73 patients or 56.15%). Furthermore, 65 patients (50%) reported diarrhea, 25 patients (19.23%) reported nausea and vomiting while 9 patients (6.92%) reported abdominal pain. As well, patients with bilateral interstitial pneumonia and gastrointestinal tract symptoms (31 of them or 40.79%) did not have a higher CT scan severity score in peak of the disease compared to the patients without gastrointestinal symptoms (45 of them or 59.21%), (p-value: 0.704). Conclusion. Gastrointestinal symptoms often are the first manifestation of COVID-19 infection. Therefore, every patient with newly formed digestive tract symptoms should be tested for COVID-19 infection.
doi:10.2298/vsp210908014b fatcat:m42aov4mnbcdrimtppcy4aeiee