This gut problem may be an early sign of COVID-19 infection

Credit: CC0 Public Domain

In a new study, researchers found acute pancreatitis may be a gastrointestinal manifestation of COVID-19.

Acute pancreatitis is a sudden inflammation of the pancreas that may be mild or life-threatening but usually subsides.

The research was conducted by a team at the University of Arkansas and elsewhere.

The team assessed the point prevalence, risk factors, and outcomes of hospitalized patients with COVID-19 presenting with acute pancreatitis in a large New York health system (March 1 through June 1, 2020).

Outcomes were compared for those with pancreatitis and COVID-19 versus those with pancreatitis but without COVID-19.

The researchers found that during the study period, 189 patients met the criteria for a diagnosis of pancreatitis, and 32 of the 189 (17%) were COVID-19-positive, yielding a point prevalence of 0.27% of pancreatitis among patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

There was a higher proportion of Black and Hispanic patients with pancreatitis in the COVID-19-positive group versus the COVID-19-negative group, which remained significant in an adjusted analysis.

Patients with pancreatitis and COVID-19 were more likely to require mechanical ventilation and have longer hospital stays versus patients with pancreatitis but not COVID-19.

These findings support the notion that pancreatitis should be included in the list of gastrointestinal manifestations of COVID-19.

One author of the study is Sumant Inamdar, M.B.B.S. from the University of Arkansas.

The study is published in Gastroenterology.

Copyright © 2020 Knowridge Science Report. All rights reserved.