Surgical infections in AIDS patients.

Many patients with acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) and abdominal pain are evaluated by the surgeon, and the majority have gastroenteritis, which can be treated with specific antimicrobials. There are some, however, who need more extensive investigation or who have an intra-abdominal infective process that requires surgical treatment. The one and a half decades of experience with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and AIDS has defined the role of the surgeon in treating patients with HIV. Major infective processes that may require surgical involvement include cytomegalovirus infection of the intestinal tract; appendicitis, which may be due to opportunistic infections; spontaneous bacterial peritonitis; cholecystitis; and obstructive jaundice with underlying sclerosis of the biliary tree. Early diagnosis and prompt surgical treatment are critical in the management of HIV-infected patients. For example, cytomegalovirus affecting the gastrointestinal tract may lead to perforation with the development of generalized fecal peritonitis; the clinical presentation of acute appendicitis in HIV patients may not include the usual rise in white blood cell count; and bacterial peritonitis in patients with AIDS may be caused by opportunistic pathogens or, as in the classical case, a single gram-negative bacillus or pneumococcus. This review article focuses on intra-abdominal infections in patients with HIV and AIDS.