Appendicitis as a presentation of COVID-19: A case report
| Autor: | Ashish Prasad Rajbhandari, Swojay Maharjan, Suraj Shrestha, Kiran Malbul, Srijana Katwal, Roman Dhital |
|---|---|
| Jazyk: | angličtina |
| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
| Předmět: |
medicine.medical_specialty
Abdominal pain Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) business.industry General surgery Respiratory disease COVID-19 General Medicine medicine.disease Appendicitis medicine.anatomical_structure Acute abdomen Case report medicine Abdomen Appendectomy Surgery Presentation (obstetrics) medicine.symptom Respiratory system business |
| Zdroj: | Annals of Medicine and Surgery |
| ISSN: | 2049-0801 |
| Popis: | Background Coronavirus disease-19 (COVID-19) is an infectious respiratory disease caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Respiratory symptoms and flu-like presentation are the most defined clinical manifestations. However, gastrointestinal symptoms with acute abdomen have been reported in a small percentage, occasionally mimicking acute appendicitis. Hence, the diagnosis of COVID-19 should be suspected and investigated in every case of acute abdomen in the present situation. Case presentation We report a case of a 25-year-old male who presented with features of acute appendicitis. Despite the equivocal ultrasound results, he was scheduled for an emergency appendectomy for Alvarado's score 7 out of 10, who underwent a successful appendectomy. The patient had initially tested negative on an upper respiratory COVID-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) with normal chest X-ray but few hours after the surgery patient developed a high-grade fever. An RT-PCR for COVID-19 was resent following a suspicion that came out to be positive. Clinical discussion Several case reports have suggested a probable association between COVID-19 and appendicitis. This case shows the limited effectiveness of clinical diagnosis for the surgical abdomen in COVID-19 patients as these two conditions share similar symptoms often needing a clinical vigilance. Conclusion This case reports acute appendicitis in a patient who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2 subsequently following emergency appendectomy highlighting the acute gastrointestinal presentation of COVID-19. This case exemplifies the necessity to be familiar with the gastrointestinal symptoms of COVID-19 and maintain a high level of suspicion for COVID-19 infection in cases of abdominal pain. Highlights • Acute appendicitis can be one of the presentation of COVID-19. • Clinicians need to be familiar with the gastrointestinal symptoms of COVID-19. • Rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 in patients with acute abdominal pain should be done to prevent the virus from spreading. • A negative RT-PCR for COVID-19 can't totally exclude COVID-19. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
| Externí odkaz: |
|