BACKGROUND The treatment used after failure of at least two lines of antiretroviral treatment in HIV patients is called salvage therapy. The study aims to describe the characteristics of HIV patients subjected to such a regimen, and determine the safety and effectiveness of treatment with tipranavir (TPV), darunavir (DRV), enfuvirtide (ENF) and etravirine (ETR) combined with an optimised antiretroviral regimen. METHODS HIV patients treated with ENF, TPV, DRV or ETR in a tertiary hospital infectious diseases department subjected to at least 12 weeks treatment. The patient characteristics are described and the effectiveness, durability and adherence to the treatment analysed. RESULTS There were 28 patients studied, with an average of 10 treatment regimens prior to starting salvage therapy (SD=3.5; 95% CI, 8.9-11.1). A total of 85.7% patients had treatment adherence >90%. For ENF, 70.8% of the treatment lines were suspended during follow-up. After salvage therapy, the percentage of patients with viral load (VL) <400 copies/ml doubled, and cases with undetectable CV (<50 copies/ml) almost tripled. The treatments used did not change the liver or kidney profiles; however, they changed the lipid profile and increased the percentage of patients with hyperglycaemia. CONCLUSIONS The salvage therapy studied was effective. Good adherence to the therapy is critical for its effectiveness.