Maternal complications after caesarean section in HIV infected women.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the intervention related risk in HIV-infected women, undergoing caesarean section (CS).
SETTING: Tertiary care center for high risk obstetrics and infectious diseases in pregnancy. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Thirty-three HIV-positive women and one hundred and sixty-eight controls, cross matched for age, weight, parity, obstetrical characteristics at delivery and indication for CS, were prospectively recruited for the study. Infection related characteristics, as mode of acquisition, drug abuse, immune status and stage of disease were also recorded. Complications of the intervention were evaluated according to infectious status and risk factors.
RESULTS: Post-operative complications were significantly more frequent among HIV-infected mothers. More advanced disease and maternal age were the risk factors statistically related to complications. DISCUSSION: According to our data, CS carries a higher chance of post-operative complications in HIV-infected women, these complications being also related with the severity of infection (stage and duration of the disease). Given the characteristics of the population in the study (mode of acquisition, prevalence of early stage of the disease), the rate of complication is still relatively low compared to non-western, malnourished, drug-abusers groups.