They detect first case of restless anal syndrome following COVID-19

The health consequences that occur in many patients after suffering from COVID-19 are diverse and numerous. Scientists all over the world are studying these pathologies, given the lack of clarity of many of them. Although SARS-CoV-2, like other coronaviruses, particularly attacks the respiratory tract, under certain conditions, they can invade the central nervous system and cause neurological pathologies. Among other symptoms, headaches, dizziness, myalgia and anosmia (loss of smell) and other less common ones such as encephalopathy, encephalitis, among others.

A new report published in the magazine BMC infectious diseases On September 23, Japanese scientists reported the case of a patient of 77 years old who, after contracting COVID-19, developed a neurological condition known as “restless anal syndrome”. This is a pathology with characteristics similar to a more common pathology, which is restless legs syndrome (RLS).

“To date, no case of restless anal syndrome associated with COVID-19 has been published previously,” warned the specialists who published the case, stressing the novelty of the table.

The specialists of Tokyo University Medical Hospital reported that the man suffered from insomnia and anxiety while infected with the virus and, several weeks after being discharged, began to feel deep and restless anal discomfort.

The patient reported feeling a strong urge to move while at rest. When he moved, the symptom improved but reappeared when he rested. The man describes a strange anal sensation. A colonoscopy revealed that had internal hemorrhoids.

As described by infectious disease specialists BMC, the patient presented “Deep, restless anal discomfort, about 10 cm from the perineal region. The following features were observed in the anal region; the need to move is essential, worsening with rest, improving with exercise and worsening at night ”.

“Neurological findings, including deep tendon reflex, loss of perineal sensation, and spinal cord injury, revealed no abnormalities. Diabetic militias, renal dysfunction and iron deficiency status have not been confirmed, ”added the specialists in their description of the condition being treated.

While it is not yet clear how COVID-19 causes neurological symptoms, several cases of neurological problems, including the Guillain-Barré syndrome, “brain fog” and tingling, among other problems, have been linked to coronavirus infections since the start of the pandemic.

Restless anal syndrome is a variant of RLS, which has also been linked to a small number of COVID-19 cases. This is the first report of a case linking restless anal syndrome to illness caused by the novel coronavirus.

The patient had suffered from a mild case of COVID-19, although he was admitted to Tokyo University Medical Hospital with a sore throat, cough and mild fever and was treated for mild pneumonia, insomnia and anxiety. Although her respiratory function returned to normal 21 days after admission, insomnia and anxiety persisted.

Several weeks after his release, he began to experience anal discomfort even though he had never felt such discomfort before being affected by COVID-19. Exercise eased her symptoms while rest made them worse, the authors noted.

Scientists diagnosed the patient with restless anal syndrome after determining that his symptoms met the criteria and do not observe any other cause of the syndrome. In the patient, no alteration of the bladder, rectum or erectile dysfunction was found. Neurological tests did not find any abnormalities and the patient she had no family history of RLS or periodic limb movements.

The patient’s symptoms they were relieved after being treated each day with 1.5 mg of clonazepam, a medicine used to treat seizure disorders and panic attacks.

Scientists pointed out that The long-term neuropsychiatric effects of COVID-19 are not yet fully understood, and it is not yet clear how the new coronavirus causes these effects. They asked for a long-term follow-up of these effects to better understand the underlying mechanisms, adding that RLS or RLS variants associated with COVID-19 may be underdiagnosed.

Since the middle of last year, researchers have found that even some patients mildly affected by the virus suffered from neurological complications ranging from swelling of the brain and delirium, which can lead to nerve damage and stroke.

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