Relation of COVID-19 with acute ischemic bowel disease: A retrospective observational study

Introduction: COVID-19 is a serious respiratory disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, aside from the respiratory system, the gastrointestinal system is the most common site of SARS-COV-2 infection. The study aimed to assess relation between COVID and ischemic bowel disease by analysing length of hospital stay and mortality rates between COVID and non-COVID groups. Methods: The study was conducted from June 2020 to November 2021 in the surgical wards of Seth GS Medical College and KEM Hospital, Mumbai. Included patients presented to emergency room with acute abdomen which diagnosed as acute ischemic bowel disease during the period of study and then compared the outcomes between COVID and non-COVID groups. Results: Out of 40 patients, 16 had no history of COVID and remaining 24 had either previous history of COVID or diagnosed presently with COVID. In both COVID and non-COVID population, distribution of comorbidities were almost equal exception being stroke, where both the cases had previous history of COVID, diabetes was the most common comorbidity in both the groups followed by hypertension. Patients with active COVID infection had higher mortality of 75% (3 out of 4) followed by patients with past history of infection with mortality rate of 65% (13 out of 20) whereas the mortality rate in non-COVID patients were 37.5% (6 out of 16). Conclusion: Ischemic bowel disease among COVID-19 patients is rare, but its association with high mortality rates and prolonged length of stay necessitates clinical suspicion and prompt intervention. Keywords: COVID-19; ischemic bowel disease; acute mesenteric ischemia