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Updated: Oct 14, 2025
Systematic Scoring Analysis for Intestinal Inflammation in a Murine Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Colitis Model
Published on: February 14, 2021
Acute abdomen in multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children: A systematic review
Glykeria Rouva1, Eleni Vergadi1,2, Emmanouil Galanakis1,2
1Department of Paediatrics, University General Hospital of Heraklion, Heraklion, Greece.
Aim:
Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C), a rare severe complication of SARS-CoV-2 infection, has been recently reported to mimic acute abdomen and lead to surgical interventions, posing challenges for clinicians. In this systematic review, we evaluated the rate of acute abdomen and abdominal surgical emergencies in children with MIS-C.
Methods:
Systematic review of all MIS-C cases presented with acute abdomen.
Results:
A total of 385 patients with MIS-C, from 38 studies, were included. Gastrointestinal manifestations were prominent in 233/385 (60.5%) children. Acute abdomen was noted in 72/385 (18.7%) of MIS-C cases and in 72/233 (30.9%) of MIS-C cases with gastrointestinal symptoms. Final diagnoses were mostly non-surgical (55/72, 76.4%), such as mesenteric lymphadenitis (23/72, 31.9%), terminal ileitis/ileocolitis (19/72, 26.4%), free abdominal fluid/ascites (8/72, 11.1%) and paralytic ileus (3/72, 4.2%). Laparotomy was performed in 35/72 (48.6%) of children with MIS-C, and acute abdomen and was proven unnecessary in 18/35 (51.4%) cases. True abdominal surgical emergencies, such as appendicitis and obstructive ileus, were confirmed in 17/72 (23.6%) cases.
Conclusion:
MIS-C often presents with acute abdomen, mostly due to non-surgical intestinal inflammatory pathology. However, surgical complications occur in patients with MIS-C; therefore, a high index of suspicion should remain.
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