Rev Col Bras Cir. 2023 Nov 20:50:e20233618.doi: 10.1590/0100-6991e-20233618-en. eCollection 2023.

Julyanne Tereza Cordeiro Silva ¹, Olival Cirilo Lucena da Fonseca Neto ²

Author information

¹Centro Universitário Maurício de Nassau, Recife - PE - Brasil.

²Hospital Universitário Oswaldo Cruz, Serviço de Cirurgia Geral e Transplante de Fígado - Recife - PE - Brasil.

Abstract

in English, Portuguese

Introduction: the persistence of long-term symptoms of COVID-19 represents a new challenge for the medical-scientific community, it is the condition called long-term COVID-19. Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS) is one of the most common Disorders of the Gut-Brain Interaction and its post-infection development is already validated. According to the Rome IV criteria, it is characterized by the presence of recurrent abdominal pain, on average, at least 1 day a week in the last 3 months with onset of symptoms at least 6 months before diagnosis, associated with 2 or more factors: related to defecation and/or associated with change in stool frequency and/or associated with change in stool form. This study aimed to review data on post-COVID-19 IBS.

Methods: this is an integrative review of studies published between January 1, 2020 and April 30, 2023, which presented data on IBS with previously diagnosed COVID-19 disease. The PubMed database was used, the descriptors were "Irritable bowel syndrome" AND "COVID-19"; the reference list of the articles was also retrieved.

Results: eight studies were reviewed, it was observed that 0.6% to 11.6% of patients had IBS again after a minimum period of 6 months of infection. Risk factors were female gender, severity of COVID-19, presence of acute-phase gastrointestinal symptoms, and depression/anxiety.

Conclusion: the results obtained suggest that COVID-19 may be associated with the emergence of de novo IBS. Further studies are needed to investigate its long-term effects and clinical spectra.