Digestive symptoms were common in patients with COVID-19, according to the American Journal of Gastroenterology. Patients with these symptoms had a longer time from onset to admission and their prognosis was worse compared with patients without symptoms.
“Clinicians should recognize that digestive symptoms, such as diarrhea, may be a presenting feature of COVID-19, and that the index of suspicion may need to be raised earlier in at-risk patients presenting with digestive symptoms rather than waiting for respiratory symptoms to emerge,” Lei Pan, MD, PhD, from the department of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine at Binzhou Medical University Hospital and the Second Medical Center & National Clinical Research Center for Geriatric Diseases at the Chinese PLA General Hospital, and colleagues wrote. “However, further large sample studies are needed to confirm these findings.”
Investigators noted 99 patients (48.5%) reported digestive symptoms as their main complaint when they presented to the hospital. Compared with patients without digestive symptoms, patients with symptoms had a significantly longer time from onset to hospital admission (7.3 days vs. 9 days). Manifestations in patients with digestive symptoms included anorexia (83 cases), diarrhea (29 cases), vomiting (8 cases) and abdominal pain (4 cases). There were digestive symptoms, but no respiratory symptoms seen in seven cases. Digestive symptoms became more pronounced as the disease severity increased. Patients without digestive symptoms compared with those with symptoms were more likely to be cured and discharged (60% vs. 34.3%). There was no significant liver injury in this case series, according to laboratory data.