The Prevalence of HBsAg, Anti HCV and Anti HIV Before Upper Gastrointestinal Endoscopy

Objective: This study was conducted to determine the preprocedure prevalence of hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV in patients with dyspeptic complaints to whom an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed and also to question the necessity of routine serologic testing. Materials and Methods: Medical records of 242 adult patients who applied to Gastroenterology clinic of Necmettin Erbakan University Meram Faculty of Medicine with dyspeptic complaints during 2012 and to whom an upper gastrointestinal endoscopy was performed were analyzed retrospectively for preprocedure hepatitis B, hepatitis C and HIV serologies. Results: A total of 242 patients were taken into the study. 120 of them (49%) were males and 122 of them (51%) were females. Preprocedure prevalence of HBs Ag and anti HCV was 2.9% and 0.4% respectively. Anti HIV was detected to be positive in none of the patients. In total 3.3% of patients were positive hepatitis serology. Conclusion: The preprocedure prevalence of hepatitis B and C in our patients was consistent with the prevalences reported for general population in previous studies. Taken into account that post procedure transmission of hepatitis B and C is rare, routine serologic testing is not necessary as far as disinfection rules are obeyed strictly in endoscopy clinics.