Anal Fissure Among Survivors of COVID-19 Virus Infection.

Background Anal fissure is one of the most common anorectal problems. After an outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has rapidly spread from China to almost all over the world, it nearly affected all countries. In spite of its typical presentation in the form of fever, cough, myalgia, fatigue and pneumonia, other GIT manifestations were reported. We found some of COVID-19 survivors who had complained from anal fissure problem. The aim of this study was to report the prevalence of acute anal fissure among COVID-19 patients, its possible risk factors and outcome. Methods This is a retrospective cross-sectional study which was conducted over three months from the start of September 2020 to the end of November 2020 at Mansoura university isolation hospital, on COVID-19 patients' who were diagnosed with anal fissure. Those who survived and were discharged home safely were telephone called to pick up whether they suffered from any symptoms of anal pain, difficulty in defecation suggesting anal fissure, in order to identify their outcomes, the risk factors for anal fissure development and how they were managed. Results A total of 176 patients were enrolled in this study. Patients were categorized into two groups. The first group included patients who developed anal fissure (n=65) and the 2nd group included patients who did not develop anal fissure (n=111). No significant difference was noted in demographic data apart from the age which was younger in the fissure group. The incidence of anal fissure was 36.9% of total population. The majority of patients' anal fissure problem resolved spontaneously after patients improved from the COVID symptoms without receiving any treatment (43.1%). Conclusion Anal fissure is quite common problem after COVID-19. Young and middle age patients are more vulnerable to develop anal fissure after COVID-19 infection.