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.
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