The incidence of intra-abdominal surgery in acquired immunodeficiency syndrome: a statistical review of 904 patients

Abstract

This communication concerns the incidence of intra-abdominal surgery in 904 patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome who were admitted to the Cabrini Medical Center during a 3-year period from January 1985 to January 1988. It was found that 36, or 4.2%, of the patients underwent surgery, including 12 cholecystectomies, 7 splenectomies, 7 appendectomies, 6 laparotomies, and 6 other operations for miscellaneous conditions. It was pointed out that the high incidence of inflammatory involvement of the gallbladder, appendix, and intestines in AIDS patients was in all probability due to the nature of the blood supply to these organs. All receive blood from terminal arteries or vessels with few anastomoses, and therefore when vasculitis ensues it is often followed by gangrene or ulceration of mucosal surfaces. Surgical intervention was deemed advantageous for those patients with splenomegaly and accompanying pancytopenia, acute appendicitis, and lesions of the gastrointestinal tract, but not for those with cholecystitis. The high postoperative mortality rate, 22.2%, was attributed primarily to the immunodeficient state of the patients rather than to complications of their surgery.