Prevalence of hepatitis B and hepatitis C in an orthopaedics and traumatology ward.

The prevalence of hepatitis C (HCV) was studied in the operative practice of one surgeon for a period of 18 months (1/1/98-31/6/99). Patients were also tested for measurement of liver enzymes, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine aminotransferase (ALT), and hepatitis B virus surface antigen (HbsAg). Out of a total of 911 consecutive patients, 37 (4.06%) were found to have anti-HCV antibodies, using a second-generation screening assay, and 10 (1.09%) to have anti-HBV antibodies. None of the patients (0%) had both anti-HBV antibodies and anti-HCV antibodies. Ten and 21 patients positive for HCV (27% and 56%) were found to have high AST and ALT levels, respectively; 1 and 1 patients positive for HBV (10% and 10%) were found to have high AST and ALT levels, respectively. The authors demonstrated the prevalence of HCV and HBV infection or previous exposure to be higher in the trauma patients (6.6%) who required orthopaedic surgery than in the elective orthopaedic patients (3.3%), and the need for full screening without risk factors. All values for p were calculated using Yates's corrected X2 or Student's t test.