Operative procedures in patients subsequently found to be human immunodeficiency virus positive.

This study investigated the number and range of surgical procedures performed in patients subsequently found to be human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) positive. Procedures were included if they occurred during a period when the patients were likely to have been infected with HIV but unaware of their HIV status. A total of 28 operative procedures were documented in 19 (22 per cent) of 86 patients. Several operations were major and invasive. All patients had recognized risk factors for HIV infection but these had not been elicited in the surgical records. Women and patients who acquired their disease through heterosexual intercourse were more likely to have undergone surgery before a diagnosis of HIV than homosexual men. The incidence of surgical procedures in patients with HIV infection was significantly greater than in the general population of Leicestershire; however, many of these were minor and related to the management of complications associated with HIV. Surgeons are performing operations on patients who are unknowingly infected with HIV. The risk of transmission of HIV to surgeons is remote, but surgeons must be aware of risk factors for HIV infection.