(HealthDay News) — Nearly one in five patients hospitalized with COVID-19 has gastrointestinal symptoms, with persistence of symptoms in some patients for up to six months, according to a study recently published in Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.
Anam Rizvi, M.D., from Northwell Health System in New Hyde Park, NY, and colleagues assessed GI sequelae three and six months after hospitalization for COVID-19. The analysis included adult patients hospitalized for COVID-19 infection from March 1, 2020, to Jan. 24, 2021, across 12 hospitals within a single health system.
The researchers found that of the 17,462 hospitalized patients, 18.5% had GI manifestations. At three months of follow-up, 22.1% of patients had GI manifestations, as did 24.4% at six months of follow-up. Initial GI symptoms included gastroenteritis (52.5%), GI bleeding (20.4%), malnutrition (23%), and idiopathic pancreatitis (0.5%). Gastroenteritis resolved in most patients at follow-up (90.5% at three months and 89.4% at six months), as did GI bleeding (92% at three months and 94.7% at six months). Inability for weight regain persisted in 50.6% of patients at three months and in 32.4% at six months.
“It may be imperative to establish malnutrition screening practices in post-COVID-19 patients who have recovered from acute infection,” the authors write.
One author disclosed financial ties to Pentax Medical.
