Uncommon presentation of COVID-19: Gastrointestinal bleeding

Clin Res Hepatol Gastroenterol. 2020 Sep;44(4):e72-e76. doi: 10.1016/j.clinre.2020.05.001. Epub 2020 May 21.

Abstract

The COVID-19 outbreak has become a pandemic that is threatening global health. The typical clinical manifestations were fever, cough, dyspnea, and myalgia or fatigue. Digestive symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain usually accompany respiratory symptoms. However gastrointestinal bleeding as the first symptom is not reported. Here we reported a case of COVID-19 with gastrointestinal bleeding as the initial symptom to the emergency department with a real-time reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction test positive, and normal thorax tomography. The case demonstrate that; clinicians should be alerted to patients about COVID-19 when referring to atypical symptoms and every patient undergoing endoscopy should be considered potentially infected or can infect others.

Keywords: COVID-19; Emergency; Endoscopy; Gastrointestinal bleeding.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Betacoronavirus*
  • COVID-19
  • Coronavirus Infections / complications*
  • Coronavirus Infections / diagnosis
  • Diarrhea / etiology
  • Electrocardiography
  • Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage / etiology*
  • Humans
  • Lung / diagnostic imaging
  • Male
  • Melena / diagnosis
  • Middle Aged
  • Myocardial Ischemia / diagnosis
  • Pandemics
  • Pneumonia, Viral / complications*
  • Pneumonia, Viral / diagnosis
  • Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction
  • SARS-CoV-2
  • Tachycardia, Sinus / diagnosis