Abstract

COVID-19 infected patients clinically can be asymptomatic or symptomatic. Clinical course in symptomatic patients may be present with mild, moderate, or severe symptoms. The coronavirus can affect multi-organ systems. The respiratory system is the most frequent target for the virus. Besides, gastrointestinal involvement may occur in occasional patients. We aimed to determine the clinical features and outcomes of gastrointestinal symptoms in patients with COVID-19. We retrospectively investigated 188 COVID-19 patients—patients clinical and demographic information obtained from the hospital database. Patients were categorized according to the clinical management guide released by the Republic of Turkey Ministry of Health. The mean age of the patients was 55.95 years (±17.62). 118 (62.8%) of the patients were men, and 70 (37.2%) of women. 118 (62.8%) patients were symptomatic, and 70 (37.2%) patients were asymptomatic. Among symptomatic patients, 56(47.4%) patients have isolated non-gastrointestinal symptoms, 52 (44.06%) patients have both (non-gastrointestinal, and gastrointestinal) symptoms, and 10 (8.4%) patients have isolated gastrointestinal symptoms. The distribution of the symptoms in 118 symptomatic patients was: 61 (32.5 %) patients have a fever, 84 (44.7 %) patients have a cough, 72 (38.3%) patients have dyspnea. The spectrum of gastrointestinal symptoms was as follows: 11 (5.9%) patients have diarrhea, 18 (9.6% ) patients have abdominal pain, 24 (12.8%) patients have nausea, 14 (7.5%) patients have vomiting, 38 (18.7%) patients have anorexia, 2 (2.1%) patients have constipation. However, COVID-19 infection present commonly with respiratory and musculoskeletal symptoms; it is important to be aware of the varied clinical presentations in COVID-19, including isolated gastrointestinal symptoms. This will allow increasing the timely detectability of infected patients and more effective contact control measures.

Key words: COVID-19 pandemic, COVID-19 infection, gastrointestinal symptoms