Gastroenterology 2021: from the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic

Like many across the world, in January we tend to contemplate what we hope to achieve in the upcoming year. Of course, these are not hard and fast objectives due to a combination of overambition (which frequently leads to my gym goals being modified) and unforeseen circumstance. It would be an understatement to say that 2020 was affected by unforeseen circumstance. Nevertheless, as healthcare professionals we have united in our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and in our attempts to continue to provide a quality service for our patients. Here, we look back over the past year and review what we have learnt about COVID-19 and its effects on how we work as gastroenterologists as well as what questions remain unanswered. The pandemic was initially accompanied with an explosion of case reports. Flicking through Twitter on the commute, one learnt that ‘COVID-19 causes pancreatitis1 ’, ’COVID-19 causes encephalitis2 ’ and ‘COVID-19 causes orchitis3 ’ which left you wondering what inflammatory condition the disease was not associated with. It soon became apparent that gastrointestinal symptoms were not uncommon and that they may be associated with a more severe disease phenotype.4 5 Abnormal liver function tests are frequently observed and may be associated with a more severe disease phenotype.6 7 Whether or not this represents a direct effect of SARS-CoV-2 infection is …