SURGICAL SITE INFECTION IN HIV-POSITIVE PATIENTS WITH CHRONIC SPONDYLITIS

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Introduction. The epidemic process of medical care-related infections complies to the general laws for development of epidemic process, although it has specific features. The probability for development of surgical site infection becomes precipitated by risk factors, which contribute to emergence of surgical site infection based on traits of pathology, patient populations and the specifics of hospital facility. The aim of the study was to evaluate HIV-related effect on developing surgical site infection in patients with chronic spondylitis. Materials and methods. A retrospective cohort epidemiological study was conducted. The inclusion criteria were met by 809 examined patients including 119 HIV-positive patients who underwent 192 surgical interventions. At admission, a patient provided a discharge summary describing the disease profile as well as HIV-positive status verified by infectious disease specialist through a comprehensive data assessment, no more than a month prior to admission. HIV-infected and HIV-free patients comprised exposed and unexposed cohort, respectively. Results. Tuberculous spinal lesions prevailed in HIV patients (p≤0.001; RR=4.864; 95% CI [3.070- 7.707]). Almost all patients were at stage 4 HIV, and one patient – stage 3. The incidence of surgical site infection in patients with chronic infectious spondylitis was 5.01 per 100 operations (49 cases per 978 operations), in HIV patients it developed only in 2 cases of tuberculous spondylitis (the incidence was 1.04 per 100 operations). HIV-infection did not increase the risk of surgical site infection (p=0.009; RR=0.174; 95% CI [0.043 - 0.711]. surprisingly, it turned out to observe higher risk of revision interventions in HIV-free patients (p=0.007; RR = 1.783; 95% CI [1.149 - 2.768]). Conclusions. HIV-positive patients had higher risk of developing a tuberculous than a nonspecific lesion. The HIV status of patients with chronic infectious spondylitis did not significantly affect development of surgical site infection and increased incidence of revision operations. A potential reason for the final result is the long-term use of anti-tuberculosis drugs acting, in this case, as a preventive measure against developing surgical site infection.