Gastrointestinal and Liver Manifestations in COVID-19 Population

Abstract

The coronavirus was first identified as the cause of pneumonia in Wuhan, a town in the Hubei Province of China, in December 2019. It usually has respiratory symptoms such as myalgia, headache, cough, and dyspnea. In the medical literature, digestive symptoms and liver disease have been reported in Coronavirus disease in 2019 (COVID-19) patients. In this review article, we summarized the recent studies of gastrointestinal and hepatic manifestations and management of COVID-19. The most common gastrointestinal symptoms were poor appetite/anorexia, nausea/vomiting, diarrhea, and abdominal pain. Elevated aminotransferase has been reported in patients with COVID-19.  COVID-19 gastrointestinal and hepatic management is usually symptomatic except for high-risk populations such as patients with inflammatory bowel disease or autoimmune hepatitis, which require special attention.