Incidence of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS)-related disorders at laparotomy in patients with AIDS

Background: Patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) presen t for surgical management of abdominal conditions that are complications of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection or that are caused b y other disease not related to AIDS. This study compared the clinical detai ls and postoperative outcomes of patients with AIDS-related diseases found at laparotomy with those of patients with non-AIDS-related disorders. Methods: The medical records of 30 consecutive patients with AIDS who under went laparotomy were examined retrospectively. Results: Fourteen patients had AIDS-related pathologies found at laparotomy , 13 had disease processes that were not AIDS related and three had no abno rmal findings at laparotomy. Patients with AIDS-related conditions at lapar otomy had lower mean body-weight, serum albumin concentration and CD4 lymph ocyte count, and required a longer hospital admission than those who had no n-AIDS-related disease. The duration of HIV infection and the number of com plications and deaths were similar in the two groups. Complications occurre d in 21 patients and there were five deaths (30-day mortality rate 17 per c ent). Conclusion: AIDS-related pathologies are commonly found at laparotomy in pa tients with HIV/AIDS. An AIDS-related diagnosis does not confer a greater r isk of complication or postoperative death than other conditions.