• Deidre McPherson, Valentin Neuhaus, Rohin Dhar, Sorin Edu, Andrew J Nicol, and Pradeep H Navsaria.
• Trauma Center, Department of Surgery, Groote Schuur Hospital, University of Cape Town, Observatory, Cape Town, 7925, South Africa.
• World J Surg. 2018 Aug 1; 42 (8): 2412-2420.

BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to determine whether the outcomes of hemodynamically stable patients undergoing exploratory laparotomy for penetrating abdominal trauma differed as a result of their HIV status.MethodsThis was an observational, prospective study from February 2016 to May 2017. All hemodynamically stable patients with penetrating abdominal trauma requiring a laparotomy were included. The mechanism of injury, the HIV status, age, the penetrating abdominal trauma index (PATI), and the revised trauma score (RTS) were entered into a binary logistic regression model. Outcome parameters were in-hospital death, morbidity, admission to intensive care unit (ICU), relaparotomy within 30 days, and length of stay longer than 30 days.ResultsA total of 209 patients, 94% male, with a mean age of 29 ± 10 years were analysed. Twenty-eight patients (13%) were HIV positive. The two groups were comparable. Ten (4.8%) laparotomies were negative. There were two (0.96%) deaths, both in the HIV negative group. The complication rate was 34% (n = 72). Twenty-nine patients (14%) were admitted to the ICU. A higher PATI, older age, and a lower RTS were significant risk factors for ICU admission. After 30 days, 12 patients (5.7%) were still in hospital. Twenty-four patients (11%) underwent a second laparotomy. The PATI score was the single independent predictor for complications, relaparotomy, and hospital stay longer than 30 days.ConclusionsPreliminary results reveal that HIV status does not influence outcomes in patients with penetrating abdominal trauma.

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