Thrombosis leading to acute abdomen in corona virus disease- 19:A case series.

ABSTRACT

Involvement of the gastrointestinal (GI) system in corona virus disease-19 (COVID-19) in form of diarrhea, loss of taste, nausea, and anorexia is common and associated with poor prognosis. COVID-19 is also associated with a hypercoagulable state that mainly involves the pulmonary vasculature. However, GI complications involving thrombosis are observed infrequently. We report two COVID-19 patients who had two different causes of acute abdomen. The first patient was a 49-year-old male diagnosed with an aortic thrombus along with a splenic infarct. He was diagnosed early and successfully managed with anticoagulants. The second patient was a 30-year-old male who developed pain in the abdomen and was found to have features suggestive of peritonitis. A contrast-enhanced computerized tomography (CECT) scan of the abdomen revealed dilated bowel loops. Immediate exploratory laparotomy was performed; he was found to have jejunal perforation with gangrene. Histopathological examination of the resected specimen showed inflammatory cells with edema and thrombotic vessels. However, he succumbed to sepsis and multiorgan failure. Therefore, it is important to investigate cases of acute abdomen in COVID-19 thoroughly and whenever indicated CT angiogram should be obtained.