Pattern of Hb genotype in surgical patients at a tertiary hospital in Southern, Nigeria

Background: Haemoglobin (Hb) genotype is not a routine test in adult pre-operative investigations in majority of clinical settings, though in the obstetric and gynaecological patients already have their Hb genotype as a part of the routine antenatal investigations. However, in paediatric work up for surgical procedures Hb genotype is a routine investigation. This is due to sickle cell endemicity in our locality. Aim: To determine the pattern of HB Genotype in surgical patients at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH). Method: This was a one-year retrospective study of surgical patients (Surgery and Obstetrics/Gynaecology departments) of the RSUTH. The patients comprised of all the consecutive cases of the surgeries in these departments for the period under review. Ethical clearance was obtained from ethical committee of the Rivers State Hospital Management Board. Structured profoma was used to extract information from patients’ case notes and analyzed using SPSS version 25. Result: There were a total of 370 subjects that were recruited for the study under review. There were 146 (39.5%) males and 224 (60.5%) females. The mean age was 31 years. The age range was 22 years to 56 years. One hundred and ninety four (52.4%) were obstetrics and gynaecological surgeries while 176 (47.6 %) were non-gynaecological surgeries. The commonest indication for surgery was caesarean representing 126 (34.1%) of the subject. The most common Hb genotype was AA 246 (66.5%)of which females contributed to 148 (40%) and males 98(26.5%)had Hb AA while 124 (33.5%)of the subjects were Hb AS. Females that were Hb As were 74 (20%) while males were 50 (13.5%). There were no subjects that were Hb SS. Conclusion: This study showed the most prevalent Hb Genotype as AA (66.5%) in surgical patients at the Rivers State University Teaching Hospital (RSUTH), while 33.5% had Hb AS genotype. None of these subjects had sickle cell (HbSS) homozygous trait