Association between MIS-C and Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders in Children: A Cross-Sectional Study

Objective Multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children (MIS-C) is a serious complication of coronavirus disease 2019 which causes a hyperinflammatory syndrome that can affect all organ systems. Functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) are a heterogeneous disease spectrumwith unclear etiology. Today, it is known that low- grade inflammation can cause FGIDs. Our aimin this study was to investigatewhether there is a higher frequency of FGID in children diagnosed with MIS-C. Methods In this study, 48 pediatric patients diagnosed with MIS- C were evaluated for functional gastrointestinal diseases according to the Rome IV criteria at least 6months after diagnosis. The control group consisted of 61 pediatric patients without any chronic disease. Results In our study, the overall prevalence of FGIDs was 54.1% ( n = 26) in the patient group and 22.9% (n = 14) in the control group. The difference between the groups was statistically significant (p < 0.001). The frequencies of undiagnosed abdominal pain, irritable bowel syndrome, constipation, and dyspepsia were 41.6% (n = 20), 12.5% ( n = 6), 8.3% (n = 4), and 6.2% (n = 3) in the patient group, respectively. In the control group, the corresponding rates were 9.8% (n = 6), 3.2% (n = 2), 4.9% (n = 3), and 4.9% ( n = 3), respectively. A significant difference was observed between the patient and control groups in terms of functional abdominal pain (p < 0.001). Conclusion The overall frequency of FGIDs and the prevalence of functional abdominal pain were higher inMIS- C patients than in control subjects. The data from this study support the hypothesis that FGIDs are more common in patients diagnosed with MIS-C than in healthy controls.