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HIV/AIDS among surgical patients in Butare University Teaching Hospital
Abstract
Background: Despite the increasing number of patients with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa, surgical experience with these patients remains limited. A prospective review of 165 surgical patients admitted over a period of 3 months from 20th September to 20th December 2006 was undertaken. The main objective of the study was to determine the frequency HIV among these patients and associated surgical conditions.
Methods: This 3-months prospective study was undertaken at Butare Teaching Hospital Rwanda over a 3-months period starting from 20th September 2007. A total of 165 patients who after counseling gave an informed consent had their blood collected for HIV screening. Data obtained was analyzed using Epidata and SPSS 11.5. P value was P value equal to 0.05 or less was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The patients’ ages ranged from 6 to 86 years with a mean of 35.2 years. The sex ratio M: F was 2.11:1. The HIV seroprevalence was 6.7%. The majority of HIV positive patients were female (54.5%) and the most affected age range was 30-39 years. Only 2 (22.2 %) affected patients were on ARV therapy. Eight of the HIV patients had musculoskeletal sepsis (72.72 %). Associated surgical diseases included infection of osteosynthetic material in, chronic osteomyelitis, Pyomyositis and osteonecrosis of the head of femur associated with pyomyositis.
Conclusion: With a prevalence of 6.6%, HIV/AIDS is a real and significant problem in surgical practice and patients with HIV admitted to a surgical department require special consideration if their surgical management is to be effective. Surgeons and other health-care workers who are potentially exposed to blood and body fluids must take appropriate precautions to avoid getting infected with HIV. We found no statistically significant difference in the surgical pathologies between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients.
Methods: This 3-months prospective study was undertaken at Butare Teaching Hospital Rwanda over a 3-months period starting from 20th September 2007. A total of 165 patients who after counseling gave an informed consent had their blood collected for HIV screening. Data obtained was analyzed using Epidata and SPSS 11.5. P value was P value equal to 0.05 or less was considered as statistically significant.
Results: The patients’ ages ranged from 6 to 86 years with a mean of 35.2 years. The sex ratio M: F was 2.11:1. The HIV seroprevalence was 6.7%. The majority of HIV positive patients were female (54.5%) and the most affected age range was 30-39 years. Only 2 (22.2 %) affected patients were on ARV therapy. Eight of the HIV patients had musculoskeletal sepsis (72.72 %). Associated surgical diseases included infection of osteosynthetic material in, chronic osteomyelitis, Pyomyositis and osteonecrosis of the head of femur associated with pyomyositis.
Conclusion: With a prevalence of 6.6%, HIV/AIDS is a real and significant problem in surgical practice and patients with HIV admitted to a surgical department require special consideration if their surgical management is to be effective. Surgeons and other health-care workers who are potentially exposed to blood and body fluids must take appropriate precautions to avoid getting infected with HIV. We found no statistically significant difference in the surgical pathologies between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients.
