Delayed Closure of 61 Open Abdomen Patients Based on an Algorithm

Hemodynamic resuscitation, source control, and delayed abdominal closure are the three fundamental steps for open abdomen (OA) management. When to start delayed abdominal closure and how to determine which delayed closure method should be applied to each OA patient are not clarified in the literature. We evaluated an algorithm that was developed to address these two questions. A retrospective chart review was conducted for OA patients treated for according to the algorithm. When hemodynamic stabilization and source control using negative pressure therapy resulted in regression of sepsis and decreased procalcitonin levels, patients were assigned to either the skin-only or fascial closure groups according to their Björck scores and open abdominal fascial closure (OAFC) scores. The novel OAFC scoring system was created by adding age and malignancy to the sequential organ failure assessment (SOFA) score. For skin-only closure, skin flaps and skin grafts were used; for fascial closure, an abdominal re-approximation anchor system (ABRA) or ABRA plus biologic mesh was applied. From January 2008 through September 2014, 108 OA patients were managed based on the algorithm; 61 were included in this study. Abdominal closure rate was 90.2 % (55/61). Overall hospital mortality rate was 11.4 % (7/61). Small hernias developed in only 12.5 % (4/32) of the fascial closure group. In this retrospective study, the algorithm with the novel OAFC score provided practical and valid guidance to clarify when to start delayed abdominal closure and which delayed closure method to use for each OA patient.