Rafaqat Bota, Mushtaq Ahmed, Adnan Aziz, Naheed Sultan.
Hepatitis B and C Virus Infection in Surgical Practice.
J Surg Pak Jan ;20(2):64-7.

Objective: To determine frequency of hepatitis B and C virus infection in surgical patients and its relation to already reported risk factors. Study design: Case series. Place & Duration of study: Department of Surgery Civil Hospital Karachi, from May 2012 to September 2012. Methodology: All patients who were scheduled for surgical procedures were screened for HBsAg and anti-HCV using immunochromatography (ICT). The variables already known for the possible transmission were also inquired. The data was entered into a Performa and entered into SPSS version 17. Descriptive statistics were used for computation of the results. Results: Out of the total 662 patients, 325 (49.1%) were males and 337 (50.9%) females. Mean age of patients was 37.52 year. Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg) was positive in 19 (2.9%) patients of whom 12 (63.15%) were males. Hepatitis C (anti-HCV) was found in 45 (6.8%) patients of whom 24 (53.33%) were females. Among HBsAg positive patients, 17 (89.47%) had history of intravenous injections; similar history was found in 44 (97.77%) anti-HCV positive patients. Conclusions: Frequency of hepatitis B was slightly more than hepatitis C in surgical patients. Routine serological screening prior to surgery should be made mandatory so that health care workers especially surgeons can take precautions before surgery.

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