A survey on surgeonsʹ attitudes and practices in the care of HIV-infected patients in Japan

We conducted a survey to learn surgeonsʹ attitudes and practices concerning HIV-infected patients in Japan. We mailed questionnaires to 174 general hospitals and received responses from 126 (72.6%). Concerning preoperative HIV testing, 41% of the hospitals had never performed it. Twenty-nine percent had operated on at least one HIV-infected patient and 144 HIV-infected patients have received surgery under spinal, epidural or general anesthesia. During surgery, 6 accidental needlesticks occurred, but fortunately no seroconversion has been reported since the accidents. Therefore widerspread use of barrier precautions should be undertaken during surgical intervention. This survey revealed that 40–60% of the hospitals coped inadequately with such surgery. Therefore it is important to arrange a system in Japan so that HIV-infected patients will be able to receive necessary surgical treatment. For that purpose, a medical educational program for health care professionals is needed, because not only surgeons but all health care professionals in hospitals should be able to take part in the treatment of HIV-infected patients.