Prevalence of post-operative anaemia in surgical patients at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital

Background: Post-operative anaemia is often a reflection of pre-operative pre-operative work-up and pre-operative anaemia. In addition. Post-operative anaemia is also determined by co-morbidities of patients prior to surgery. The prevalence of post-operative anaemia varies based on surgical specialties and the experience of the surgeon; prevalence rates as high as 85% have been recorded in orthopaedic surgeries.
Aim: To determine the prevalence of post-operative anaemic in surgical patients at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH).
Method: This was a six months cross sectional study of the post-operative anaemia of patients who had operation at the Surgery and Obstetrics/Gyaecology departments of The Rivers State University Teaching Hospital. The permission for the study was granted by the head of department of obstetrics and gynaecology in conjunction with the head of .the hospital management. The yard stick for anaemia was packed cell volume less than 33% in line with the World Health Organization (WHO).  A structured proforma was used to obtain information from patient’s case notes and analyzed using SPSS version 25.
Result: Three hundred and eigthy subjects were recruited for the study. Males subjects were 150 (39.5%) while females were 230 (60.5%) respectively. The mean age was 31 years. One hundred and ninety nine (52.4%) were obstetrics and gynaecological surgeries while 181 (47.6 %) were non-gynaecological surgeries. The commonest indication for surgery was caesarean section representing 130 (34.2%) of the subjects.  Two hundred and sixty six of the subjects (70%) had PCV less than 33%. One hundred and fifty two (40%) women had PCV less than 33% while 114 (30%) of the men had PCV less than 33%.
Conclusion: The study revealed that prevalence of post-operative anaemia amongst surgical patients at RSUTH was 70 %. The post-operative anaemia amongst women was worrisome. The need to optimize patients prior to surgery cannot be over-emphasized to prevent morbidities and mortalities post-operative.