More HIV+ patients undergoing spinal fusion
(HealthDay)—More HIV-positive patients are undergoing spinal fusions, and these patients have higher rates of complications resulting from the procedures, according to a study published in the Sept. 15 issue of Spine.
Hiroyuki Yoshihara , M.D., Ph.D., from the Nagoya City University Graduate School of Medical Sciences in Japan, and Daisuke Yoneoka, from the Graduate University for Advanced Studies in Tokyo, analyzed data from the U.S. Nationwide Inpatient Sample (2000 to 2009) to identify patients undergoing spinal fusion. Comparisons between HIV-positive and HIV-negative patients were made for in-hospital outcomes.
The researchers found that 5,070 HIV-positive patients underwent spinal fusion in the United States during the last decade. The population-adjusted incidence of HIV-positive patients who underwent spinal fusion increased more than three-fold over the study period (P < 0.001). Compared to HIV-negative patients, HIV-positive patients had significantly higher rates of respiratory complications (6.2 versus 3.2 percent), wound-related complications (2.7 versus 1.7 percent), overall in-hospital complications (12.2 versus 9.5 percent), and in-hospital mortality (1.6 versus 0.3 percent). Relatedly, HIV-positive patients had longer hospital stay (6.6 versus 4.2 days) and a 3.53 times higher risk of in-hospital mortality (P < 0.001).
"In this study, HIV infection was an independent risk factor for in-hospital mortality in patients undergoing spinal fusion," the authors write.
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