RECOMMENDATIONS FOR SURGICAL THERAPY PLAN ING AND INTERVENTIONS IN PATIENTS WITH AIDS

No other disease has exhibited such a significant influence on the beh aviour of health care workers (HCW) as the AIDS pandemic. Numerous epi demiological data, however, have proven that the overall risk of trans mission of the human deficiency virus (HIV) during surgical interventi ons is low; it is 0.3 % for all types of percutaneous exposures. Never theless, there still is a need for wider adoption of safer surgical te chniques to reduce the chances of HIV transmission in the operation th eatre, which additionally minimize the risk of transmission of other b lood-borne pathogens. In the case of occupational exposure to HIV-cont aminated blood or body secretions post-exposure prophylaxis should be recommended stratified by the type of exposure and source material.