Review
Copyright ©The Author(s) 2021. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Clin Cases. Aug 6, 2021; 9(22): 6201-6217
Published online Aug 6, 2021. doi: 10.12998/wjcc.v9.i22.6201
Gastrointestinal manifestations of systemic sclerosis: An updated review
Adan Luquez-Mindiola, Alexis Javier Atuesta, Andres Jose Gómez-Aldana
Adan Luquez-Mindiola, Department of Gastroenterology, Gut Médica, Bogota 11711 Colombia
Alexis Javier Atuesta, Department of Internal Medicine, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Bogota 11711, Colombia
Andres Jose Gómez-Aldana, Department of Endoscopy, Santa Fe Foundation of Bogotá (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá), Bogotá 11711, Colombia
Andres Jose Gómez-Aldana, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de los Andes, Bogota 11711, Colombia
Author contributions: Luquez-Mindiola A was involved in the study conceptualization, and manuscript edition and writing; Atuesta AJ was involved in manuscript writing and study conceptualization; and Gómez-Aldana AJ was involved in study conceptualization, and writing and editing of the manuscript.
Conflict-of-interest statement: The authors have nothing to disclose.
Open-Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Andres Jose Gómez-Aldana, MD, Attending Doctor, Department of Endoscopy, Santa Fe Foundation of Bogotá (Fundación Santa Fe de Bogotá), Cra 7 # 117 15, Bogotá 11711, Colombia. andresgomezmd@hotmail.com
Received: January 18, 2021
Peer-review started: January 18, 2021
First decision: February 9, 2021
Revised: March 30, 2021
Accepted: June 7, 2021
Article in press: June 7, 2021
Published online: August 6, 2021
Processing time: 191 Days and 0.3 Hours
Abstract

Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by vascular disease, fibrosis of the skin, and internal organ dysfunction. Gastrointestinal involvement is the most frequent complication of internal organs, impacting up to 90% of patients. Gastrointestinal involvement can affect any region of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus, with a predominance of disorders being observed at the level of the upper digestive tract. The gastrointestinal involvement primarily involves the esophagus, small bowel, and rectum. The severity of gastrointestinal involvement affects quality of life and is a marker of worse prognosis and mortality in these patients. In this review, we describe the current findings regarding gastrointestinal involvement by this entity.

Keywords: Systemic sclerosis; Gastrointestinal; Diagnosis; Treatment

Core Tip: Systemic sclerosis is an autoimmune disease characterized by vasculopathy, fibrosis of the skin, and internal organ dysfunction. Gastrointestinal involvement is the most common complication of internal organs, impacting up to 90% of patients. This involvement can affect any region of the gastrointestinal tract from the mouth to the anus, with a predominance of alterations being observed in the upper digestive tract. The gastrointestinal involvement primarily involves the esophagus, small intestine, and rectum. The severity of gastrointestinal involvement affects quality of life and is a marker of worse prognosis and mortality in these patients. In this review, we describe the current findings regarding gastrointestinal involvement by this entity.