Abdominal imaging in COVID-19

Table 1 Summary of proposed mechanisms and abdominal imaging techniques recommended for gastrointestinal involvement in coronavirus disease-2019[13,34,35]

	Proposed mechanism	Abdominal imaging
Hepato-biliary	Direct viral cytopathic injury; Congestive hepatopathy; Drug-induced liver injury; Systemic inflammatory response; Exacerbation of preexistent chronic liver disease	Ultrasound to check gallbladder and biliary tree; CT/MRI to asses for perfusion injury and complications
Pancreas	Direct viral cytopathic injury; Systemic inflammation; Dehydration	CT scan to assess severity and complications of pancreatitis, and evaluate for alternative diagnosis; Ultrasound to check for biliary etiology or alternative diagnosis, also for diagnosis and follow-up of complications in pancreatitis
Gastrointestinal tract	Direct viral cytopathic injury; Systemic inflammation; Thrombosis; Adverse effects of COVID-19-related drugs	CT scan to assess for clinically similar alternative diagnosis, to detect extension and severity of bowel inflammation and to check the vascular patency

COVID-19: Coronavirus disease-2019; CT: Computed tomography; MRI: Magnetic resonance imaging.