Delhi: The doctors reported two cases of rare mucormycosis of the small intestine among Covid patients admitted at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital in Delhi. Both the patients, however, have high blood sugar levels and were recovering from Covid-19. Both had to be operated.
Dr. Ushast Dhir, senior consultant in the Department of Surgical Gastroenterology and Liver Transplantation at the hospital said, “The patient had tested positive with the rest of his family, and three of them, including his wife, died. He was experiencing mild symptoms but started experiencing mild abdominal discomfort, which was regarded as gas and acidity by his family, and was treated with local medication and home remedies. By the time he came in after three days, his Covid symptoms had become more severe and he had greater abdominal discomfort, which raised our suspicions and we got a CT scan done, which showed that his small intestine had perforated. In the second case, the 68-year-old had recovered from Covid and had been given steroids during treatment. His abdominal pain was very mild which may have been overlooked, but we had a high index of suspicion because we had seen the other patient, and got a CT scan done, which also revealed a small intestinal perforation.”
The doctor added, “One of the patients had not received steroids at all as part of the treatment regimen, making us think whether Covid along with diabetes is itself a risk factor for intestinal mucormycosis. Second, gastro-intestinal mucormycosis is extremely rare anyway — it is mostly seen in transplant recipients and I have never seen it in any other case in my experience — and even then it usually affects the stomach or large intestine. Third, the signs and symptoms were very mild,” said Dr. Ushast Dhir.
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