Nearly one in five Covid-19 patients may only show gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, according to a review of studies. The findings suggest that abdominal radiologists must remain vigilant during the pandemic while imaging patients, the researchers said. Gastrointestinal symptoms associated with Covid-19 vary widely, but can include loss of appetite, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and general abdominal pain, they said.
The study, published in the journal Abdominal Radiology, found that 18 percent of patients had such symptoms, while 16 percent of Covid-19 cases can only present with gastrointestinal symptoms.
“There is a growing body of literature showing that abdominal symptomatology is a common presentation of Covid-19,” said Mitch Wilson, radiologist and clinical lecturer at the University of Alberta in Canada.
The researchers examined the results of 36 studies published through July 15 to reach their conclusions.
In addition to gastrointestinal symptoms, they also determined possible signs radiologists should look for while taking abdominal images that could be evidence of a Covid-19 infection.
Those signs include inflammation of the small and large intestines, air within the intestinal wall (pneumatosis) and intestinal perforation (pneumoperitoneum), the researchers said.
The signs are quite rare and could indicate patients with advanced disease, they said.
“Seeing these things does not necessarily mean that a patient has Covid-19. It could be due to a variety of potential causes, ”Wilson said.
“But one of those potential causes is virus infection, and in an environment where Covid-19 is very prevalent, it is something that should be considered and potentially raised as a possibility to the referring physician,” he added.
(This story was posted from a cable agency feed with no text changes. Only the title has been changed.)
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