Gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19: results from a European centre.
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
; 33(5): 691-694, 2021 05 01.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1159992
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Infection due to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 is typically associated with a respiratory syndrome, but gastrointestinal symptoms have been described in early reports from China. However, data from European centres are scarce.OBJECTIVES:
We aimed to characterise the gastrointestinal manifestations of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their disease course.METHODS:
Patients admitted at our centre between March and April 2020 with diagnosis of COVID-19 were included. Asymptomatic patients or those without symptom information were excluded. Clinical features, laboratory data and disease severity (mechanical ventilation, intensive care admission or death) were analysed.RESULTS:
Two-hundred one patients were included (median age 71 years; 56.2% male). Digestive symptoms were reported by 60 (29.9%) patients during the disease course, being part of the disease presentation in 34 (16.9%). The most frequent were diarrhoea in 36 patients (17.9%). Patients with gastrointestinal symptoms were younger (P = 0.032), had higher haemoglobin levels (P = 0.002) and lower C-reactive protein (P = 0.045) and potassium levels (P = 0.004). Patients with digestive symptoms had less severe disease (28.3 vs. 44.0%; P = 0.038). Regarding liver damage, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) was elevated in 65.2% of patients and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) in 62.7%, but these patients did not present a more severe disease (elevated AST P = 0.062; elevated ALT P = 0.276).CONCLUSION:
A significant portion of COVID-19 patients have digestive symptoms, mostly at presentation. This should be taken into account in order to keep a high level of suspicion to reach an early diagnosis and setup infection control measures to control the transmission rate. This subgroup of patients appears to have a less severe disease course.
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Vomiting
/
Diarrhea
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Country/Region as subject:
Europa
Language:
English
Journal:
Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol
Journal subject:
Gastroenterology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
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