Complications associated with cesarean section in HIV-infected patients

Objective: To document complications associated with cesarean section in HI V-infected women. Method: A cross-sectional study was done on 307 women who delivered by cesarean section. All these patients, irrespective of their H IV-status, were managed according to the same preset protocol. Result: Of t he 307 women, 59 (19%) were HIV-positive. The only significant differences were a higher prevalence of positive serology for syphilis (32% vs. 12%, P = 0.0014) as well as more cases of post-operative endometritis in the HIV-p ositive group (24% vs. 7%, P = 0.0003). Post-operative endometritis was doc umented in 44% of HIV-infected patients with a CD4 count below 400. However , the severity of endometritis, measured by antibiotic treatment and durati on of hospital stay, was similar in the two groups. Overall, there was no d ifference in the duration of hospital stay, post-operative anemia, wound in fection, birth weight and perinatal mortality between the two groups. Concl usion: HIV-infected patients undergoing cesarean section are at increased r isk for post-operative endometritis, but the severity of the infection is n ot different from that in HIV-negative patients. (C) 2001 International Fed eration of Gynecology and Obstetrics. All rights reserved.