THE STATE OF THE GASTROINTESTINAL TRACT IN PATIENTS WHO HAVE UNDERGONE COVID-19
Abstract
Introduction. Coronavirus infection causes pathological changes not only in the respiratory system, but also in the gastrointestinal tract. The aim of study complaints, esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGDS) data and intestinal microflora of patients with and without COVID-19. Materials and methods. 100 patients with symptoms of gastrointestinal tract diseases were monitored, of which 42 (42%) were men and 58 (58%) were women. Initially, the patients were divided into two groups. The first group consisted of 27 men and 33 women with an average age of 55.06±2.1 years, relatively healthy, but with symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases, who had suffered COVID-19 and did not detect immunoglobulin M. The second, control, group consisted of 15 men and 25 women with an average age of 63.4±1.5 years, who did not have COVID-19, but had symptoms of gastrointestinal diseases. Changes in clinical and some laboratory and instrumental examinations of patients who underwent and did not undergo COVID-19, in whom pathological changes in the gastrointestinal system were detected, were studied. Results. A comparative analysis confirmed that complaints from the gastrointestinal system in patients in the COVID-19 group were significantly higher compared to the control group in almost all cases. In the first group, 16 (26.67%) patients had erosive esophagitis, 9 (15%) had catarrhal esophagitis. In the control group, these changes were observed in 7 (17.5%) and 4 (10%) patients, respectively. The number of bifidobacteria in the intestines of patients in the main group was 4.5±0.98×106, and in the control group — 8.2±1.6×107, the differences were statistically significant (p <0.05). An increase in the number of pathogenic microorganisms is associated with damage to the gastrointestinal tract. Conclusions. The prevalence of a number of complaints in relatively healthy patients who had been ill with COVID-19 and did not find immunoglobulin M in the blood, compared with the control group, confirms the long course of inflammatory processes in them. The EGDS data confirm that coronavirus infection affects not only the respiratory system, but also the gastrointestinal tract.
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