From 1990 to 1993, we carried on a seroepidemiological survey on hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection of 5297 general surgical patients. The results showed that the positive rates of HBsAg, antiHBs and antiHBc were 19.4% 、35.9% and 41.1%respectively, and the overall rate of HBV infection was 70.5%, which was much higher than that of the general population. In patients with hepatobiliary or pancreatic diseases, the HBsAg, antiHBc and the overall rate of HBV infection were 34.2%、56.1%、80.3%respectively, which were higher than those of other general surgical patients.