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Abstract

Background: Anaemia is the commonest haematological problem in the preoperative patients. Often itis a sign of underlying disease or associated co-morbid condition. A low haemoglobin level isassociated with an excess risk in surgical procedure and its outcome. Therefore an understanding of anycause, evaluation and any potential treatment is crucial in the preoperative setting. Our objective was todetermine prevalence, evaluation and management of preoperative anaemia in the elective generalsurgical patients. Methods: Prospective observational study in Surgical Unit-II, Liaquat UniversityHospital Jamshoro from July 2008 to June 2009. One hundred and twenty-five anaemic cases wereincluded in the study, with haemoglobin level <10 g/dl. Their age ranged from 13 to 70 years. Theywere evaluated for preoperative anaemia in relation to surgical problems and associated any co-morbidconditions. Results: Out of 830 patients during the study period, 125 patients were anaemic withhaemoglobin level 2.1-9.9 g/dl. Fifty-six (44.8%) were male and 69 (55.2%) were female, and 68.5%patients were from rural areas. Hypochromic microcytic was seen in 101 (80.8%) cases. Commonestsurgical problem associated with anaemia was malignancies (27.2%) followed by haemorrhoids (20%)and tuberculosis of abdomen (14.4%). Majority of patients (52%) were managed on oral ironsupplements while 48% received blood transfusions.Keywords: Pre-operative, Anaemia, causes, evaluation, management, malignancy, haemorrhoids