• K Becker and J F Erckenbrecht.
• Klinik für Innere Medizin und Gastroenterologie, Florence-Nightingale-Krankenhaus, Kaiserswerther Diakonie, Düsseldorf. becker@kaiserswerther-diakonie.de
• Med Klin. 2001 Jan 15; 96 (1): 26-31.

ProblemDue to their impaired immune function, unusual multimorbidity, and extensive concomitant medication HIV-infected patients impose special and specific demands on those who deal with their perioperative care.Preoperative AssessmentBeside standardized diagnostic and therapeutic preparations the preoperative knowledge, quantification, and treatment of HIV-associated opportunistic disorders and chronic organ damage are of particular importance. This requires an extended problem-orientated work-up. Furthermore, antiretroviral medication may interact with perioperatively administered pharmaceutics and lead to hardly foreseeable synergistic and antagonistic adverse effects. In contrast, "drug holidays" favor the development of HIV drug resistance.Operative ManagementAnesthetic and surgical procedures basically depend on the underlying indication and consequently follow common principles. Laparoscopic techniques do not have any specific advantage in HIV-infected subjects.Perioperative MorbidityDuring their postoperative course, HIV-infected patients have to be more often admitted to intensive care unit and kept on artificial respiration unplannedly. Perioperative morbidity of HIV-infected patients increases with the stage of their disease. It is, however, not significantly elevated compared to that of HIV-negative subjects in similar preoperative health condition.

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