Abdominal compartment syndrome: a situation thet needs to be better known

Abdominal compartment syndrome was initially described as a cascade of physiopathological events triggered by the increase in intra-abdominal pressure induced by a surgical procedure for aneurysm of the abdominal aorta. In practice, it is a complication that can arise after various procedures; it has a multi-organ impact and can lead to exitus. We retrospectively analyzed a total of 9 patients with abdominal compartment syndrome. In 5 cases onset of the syndrome was due to a secondary complication of a vascular procedure (3 mesenteric, 2 renal). The clinical data characterizing the disease included abdominal distension and reduced diuresis. In all cases the finding of increased necrosis scores (LDH, CPK) was evident, while the appearance of leukocytosis occurred only in 4 (44%). The basic treatment was surgical decompression. In one case we obtained an excellent result with medical treatment alone, consisting in steroids and PGE1; these were useful in all cases in which an inflammatory bowel component played a role. Our experience encourages us to stress the importance of early assessment of abdominal hypertension in patients with a potential risk of abdominal compartment syndrome. In this phase, appropriate medical and supportive treatment could limit the surgical indications or at any rate favour the healing process after surgical decompression, the basic treatment indicated for this syndrome.