Unusual: Covid-19 triggers “restless anal syndrome” in a 77-year-old patient

Although this news item may seem comical at first glance, it nevertheless caused suffering to the man who was diagnosed with “restless anus syndrome“post-covid. This unusual case was reported in the journal BMC Infectious Diseases.

An irrepressible urge to move your legs

It was in 2020 that a 77-year-old man, suffering from a mild form of Covid-19 (sore throat, cough, low fever), was treated at the Tokyo University Hospital. To recover, he was prescribed an anti-asthmatic and an antiviral.

Quickly, he found a “normal respiratory function“, but his symptoms of insomnia and anxiety persist. The 77-year-old also feels “deep anal discomfort“, approximately 10 cm above the perineal region.

Discomfort that is not relieved by defecation, but which decreases during physical activity (walking, running) or when playing video games.movement based“, report the doctors.

For experts, there is no doubt: the patient suffers from a “restless anal syndrome“, a rare variant of restless legs syndrome, which is characterized by an urgent and irresistible need to move the legs.

However, this disorder persists at rest and during the night. The patient is therefore prescribed sleeping pills.

A syndrome triggered by the Covid-19 virus

If no case of anal discomfort had been associated with the coronavirus before, the researchers say: in the case of this patient, this syndrome would be linked to the infection.

An interesting avenue since other neurological sequelae have already been associated with Covid-19, such as Guillain-Barré syndromes or even cerebrovascular accidents (CVA).

Restless anal syndrome: what treatment is considered?

In this patient’s case, the treatment given (clonazepam, a medicine used to treat and prevent seizures) worked well.