Acute pancreatitis in children hospitalized with COVID-19

Abstract

Background: Limited data exists on the association or prevalence of pancreatitis in children with COVID-19.

Methods: This is a retrospective study of pediatric patients admitted to a large health system in New York (Northwell Health System) from March 1, 2020-June 1, 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Results: 8159 pediatric patients were admitted to our healthcare system during the study period, of which 112 were diagnosed with COVID-19 (1.37%). Thirteen were diagnosed with pancreatitis for a point prevalence of 0.16% (13/8159) for all patients admitted. Of the thirteen patients admitted with pancreatitis, two patients were COVID-19 positive for a point prevalence of 1.8% (2/112) among COVID-19 patients compared to 0.14% (11/8047) in the non-COVID-19 population.

Conclusions: This study shows that pancreatitis can occur in pediatric patients with COVID-19 and may be more common in the COVID-19 population.

Keywords: Acute pancreatitis; COVID-19 virus infection; COVID19; Pediatrics; SARS-CoV-2 infection.