COVID-19 infection causing residual gastrointestinal symptoms - a single UK centre case series

Although COVID-19 was first recognised as an acute respiratory illness, extra-pulmonary manifestations are increasingly being recognised. Acute gastrointestinal side effects have been well reported with COVID-19 infection and are estimated to affect around 17% of patients. With COVID-19 still being a relatively new illness, the chronic gastrointestinal symptoms are less well characterised. Post-infectious irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) can occur following bacterial and viral infections, and with ACE-2 receptors being shown to be present in the gastrointestinal tract and SARS-Cov-2 RNA being present in stool, SARS-CoV-2 is now appreciated as an enteric pathogen. In our study, we survey acute and chronic gastrointestinal symptoms after COVID-19 infection. We have conducted one of the few UK studies on gastrointestinal symptoms, with the longest follow-up duration of 6 months. We have found that gastrointestinal symptoms are common at 6 months, affecting 43.8% of our patients. Further research is needed to explore whether this represents a new post-COVID-19 IBS, which has not previous been described in the literature, including its clinical course and response to any potential medical therapies.

Automated summary

Although COVID-19 was initially recognized as an acute respiratory illness, more non-pulmonary symptoms are now being discovered. Acute gastrointestinal side effects have been well documented, affecting approximately 17% of patients. However, there is limited understanding of chronic gastrointestinal symptoms. This study investigates both acute and chronic gastrointestinal symptoms after COVID-19 infection, finding that 43.8% of patients still experience gastrointestinal symptoms at 6 months. Further research is needed to explore the potential new post-COVID-19 IBS and its clinical progression and response to medical therapies.