Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Nov 25, 2025 2 hours, 28 minutes ago
Medical News: A New Breakthrough for Persistent Digestive Problems
Many people suffering from Long COVID continue to battle relentless gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea, abdominal pain, and disrupted digestion. These symptoms often persist for months despite normal medical tests. In a new clinical report from Neuroversion Inc. Anchorage Alaska and the WWAMI School of Medical Education at the University of Alaska, doctors reveal how a nerve targeted treatment called a celiac plexus block may offer strong and lasting relief. Early insights highlighted in this
Medical News report show promising benefits for patients whose gut symptoms never improved with standard care.
Researchers report that a celiac plexus block may significantly reduce chronic gastrointestinal symptoms linked to Long COVID.
Why Long COVID Disrupts the Gut
Long COVID is increasingly understood as a condition that disturbs the gut brain axis and affects how the nervous system communicates with organs like the stomach and intestines. The celiac plexus is a major nerve hub in the upper abdomen that helps regulate gut movement and pain responses. When COVID related inflammation sensitizes these nerves, patients may continue experiencing diarrhea and digestive discomfort long after clearing the infection. The findings in the study suggest that calming this overactive nerve center may help reset gut function.
What a Celiac Plexus Block Does
A celiac plexus block is a medical procedure in which a numbing medication is injected into the celiac plexus, a dense bundle of nerves located behind the stomach. These nerves carry pain signals from organs such as the pancreas, stomach, liver, and parts of the intestines. By interrupting these signals, the block can dramatically reduce abdominal pain and restore normal nerve activity. The technique is commonly used for severe chronic pain from conditions like pancreatic cancer and can offer relief lasting several months while lowering the need for strong pain medications. When applied to Long COVID patients, the same mechanism appears to ease gut dysfunction by calming irritated nerve pathways.
How the Treatment Was Administered
The report followed three women aged 33 to 39 who had persistent diarrhea for many months despite normal medical findings. Each received stellate ganglion blocks before undergoing the celiac plexus block performed under fluoroscopic guidance near the L1 vertebra. A local anesthetic was injected to target the overactive abdominal nerves and reduce sympathetic overstimulation.
Strong and Sustained Improvements
One patient experienced complete relief of abdominal pain, while the others reported 70 to 80 percent improvement. Diarrhea reduced significantly and bowel habits began returning to normal. Benefits lasted from many months up to nearly two years, though one patient required periodic repeat treatments after multiple reinfections. Additional improvements were seen in fatigue, rapid heartbeat, dizziness, anxiety, and depression.
Con
clusion
This case report highlights a potentially valuable new pathway for treating Long COVID gastrointestinal problems by focusing on the autonomic nervous system rather than the digestive organs alone. While based on a small number of patients, the strong and prolonged relief experienced suggests that celiac plexus block may become an important option for those with stubborn post COVID gut symptoms. Larger studies are needed, but the findings open a promising direction for future treatment.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed journal: Frontiers in Neuroscience
https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2025.1589809/full
For the latest on Long COVID, keep on logging to Thailand
Medical News.
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https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/long-covid
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