Abdominal Compartment Syndrome: A Decade of Progress

Author John Carr
Source Journal of the American College of Surgeons | January 2013

Abdominal Compartment Syndrome: A Decade of Progress

Abdominal compartment syndrome is defined as a sustained intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) > 20 mmHg that is associated with new onset of organ dysfunction or failure.ACS is a separate and distinct entity from intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH), which is defined as a sustained or repeated pathologic elevation of the IAP ~ 12 mmHg.

A common cause of IAH and ACS is fluid resuscitation. If >2 risk factors for IAH or ACS are present, a baseline measurement should be obtained, and then serial measurements performed during the patient’s critical illness.

Mixed Critical Care ACS Incidence 0.5%-8%. (6-14% trauma) (20% burn). Mortality: General Trauma Patient 12-17% vs ACS Patient 43-64%.

Link: https://www.journalacs.org/article/S1072-7515(12)01197-0/pdf

Patrick Beer, DO, Critical Care Surgery Specialist, Hurley Medical Center

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Leo Mercer, MD, Critical Care Surgery Specialist, Hurley Medical Center

“Accuracy is difficult to assess – I can tell you that the best reference number I have for Intra-abdominal Pressure is coming off an insufflator, and to the extent that the TraumaGuard catheter is correlating - almost 1:1 - with that number, is comforting. It really can’t get better than that, frankly.”