Journal of AdvancedMedical and Dental Sciences Research

Introduction: Ascites describes the condition of pathologic fluid collection within the abdominal cavity. This study has been done to screen the etiology of ascites in patients admitted with ascites in a territory care hospital admitted. Materials and Methods: A prospective, Observational study of 200 patients admitted with ascites in medical wards and ICU between 2015-2017 in territory care hospital. Inclusion criteria were age of patients above 18 years and ascites confirmed by clinical and ultrasound examination. Exclusion criteria were pregnancy and those who have underwent recent surgery i.e within three months. All patients who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were thoroughly evaluated with a detailed history, physical examination and appropriate investigations. All patients with ascites, after confirmation by USG underwent abdominal paracentesis to ascertain the cause of ascites. Results: In our study the most common cause of ascites was Chronic Liver disease (90%).The remaining causes were malignancy (4.5%), pancreatitis (2.5%), tuberculosis (2%) and cardiac failure (1%). Among chronic liver disease, ethanol related was 60%, HBV related was 18.5%, cryptogenic 6.5%, HCV related was 3.5% and autoimmune etiology was 1.5% respectively. The distribution in malignancy related was hepatocellular carcinoma (22.2%), carcinoma ovary (22.2%), pancreatic carcinoma (11.1%), carcinoma colon (11.1%), gastric carcinoma (11.1%), carcinoma GE junction(11.1%) and primary peritoneal carcinomatosis (11.1%). Conclusion: Chronic liver disease was found to be the most common cause of the ascites.