New Gastrointestinal Symptoms Are Common in Inflammatory Bowel Disease Patients With COVID-19: Data From an International Registry

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can cause gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms. A prior meta-analysis suggested that up to 17.6% of COVID-19 patients have GI symptoms. Data are conflicting on the association of GI symptoms with COVID-19 outcomes, with some reports suggesting worse prognosis among those with GI symptoms while others finding improved outcomes. There are limited data on COVID-19 and GI symptoms among inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients. A single-center study of 80 IBD patients with COVID-19 observed that they were more likely to present with abdominal pain and diarrhea than non-IBD controls. In addition, a prior systematic review on just over 400 patients found nearly one-quarter of IBD patients with COVID-19 had diarrhea.6 Using a large, international database, we aimed to describe new onset GI symptoms and their association with clinical outcomes in patients with IBD who develop COVID-19.