Post COVID-19 irritable bowel syndrome

Giovanni Marasco, Cesare Cremon, Maria Raffaella Barbaro, Giulia Cacciari, Francesca Falangone, Anna Kagramanova, Dmitry Bordin, Vasile Drug, Egidia Miftode, Pietro Fusaroli, Salem Youssef Mohamed, Chiara Ricci, Massimo Bellini, Mohammed Masudur Rahman, Luigi Melcarne, Javier Santos, Beatriz Lobo, Serhat Bor, Suna Yapali, Deniz AkyolFerdane Pirincci Sapmaz, Yonca Yilmaz Urun, Tugce Eskazan, Altay Celebi, Huseyin Kacmaz, Berat Ebik, Hatice Cilem Binicier, Mehmet Sait Bugdayci, Munkhtsetseg Banzragch YaÄ Cl, Husnu Pullukcu, Berrin Yallnbas Kaya, Ali Tureyen, Brahim Hatemi, Elif Sitre Koc, Goktug Sirin, Ali Riza Callskan, Goksel Bengi, Esra Ergun Alls, Snezana Lukic, Meri Trajkovska, Keren Hod, Dan Dumitrascu, Antonello Pietrangelo, Elena Corradini, Magnus Simren, Jessica Sjölund, Navkiran Tornkvist, Uday C. Ghoshal, Olga Kolokolnikova, Antonio Colecchia, Jordi Serra, Giovanni MacOni, Roberto De Giorgio, Silvio Danese, Piero Portincasa, Antonio Di Sabatino, Marcello Maggio, Elena Philippou, Yeong Yeh Lee, Daniele Salvi, Alessandro Venturi, Claudio Borghi, Marco Zoli, Paolo Gionchetti, Pierluigi Viale, Vincenzo Stanghellini, Giovanni Barbara

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Objectives: The long-term consequences of COVID-19 infection on the gastrointestinal tract remain unclear. Here, we aimed to evaluate the prevalence of gastrointestinal symptoms and post-COVID-19 disorders of gut-brain interaction after hospitalisation for SARS-CoV-2 infection. Design: GI-COVID-19 is a prospective, multicentre, controlled study. Patients with and without COVID-19 diagnosis were evaluated on hospital admission and after 1, 6 and 12 months post hospitalisation. Gastrointestinal symptoms, anxiety and depression were assessed using validated questionnaires. Results: The study included 2183 hospitalised patients. The primary analysis included a total of 883 patients (614 patients with COVID-19 and 269 controls) due to the exclusion of patients with pre-existing gastrointestinal symptoms and/or surgery. At enrolment, gastrointestinal symptoms were more frequent among patients with COVID-19 than in the control group (59.3% vs 39.7%, p<0.001). At the 12-month follow-up, constipation and hard stools were significantly more prevalent in controls than in patients with COVID-19 (16% vs 9.6%, p=0.019 and 17.7% vs 10.9%, p=0.011, respectively). Compared with controls, patients with COVID-19 reported higher rates of irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) according to Rome IV criteria: 0.5% versus 3.2%, p=0.045. Factors significantly associated with IBS diagnosis included history of allergies, chronic intake of proton pump inhibitors and presence of dyspnoea. At the 6-month follow-up, the rate of patients with COVID-19 fulfilling the criteria for depression was higher than among controls. Conclusion: Compared with controls, hospitalised patients with COVID-19 had fewer problems of constipation and hard stools at 12 months after acute infection. Patients with COVID-19 had significantly higher rates of IBS than controls. Trial registration number: NCT04691895.

Original languageEnglish
Article number328483
JournalGut
DOIs
Publication statusAccepted/In press - 2022

Keywords

  • COVID-19
  • irritable bowel syndrome

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Post COVID-19 irritable bowel syndrome'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this