The Prevalence of Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in the State of Florida

Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is associated with significant mortality. Multiple studies have evaluated the prevalence of ACS at individual institutions and/or for short durations. No study has looked at the change of prevalence over an extended time or included nonresearch institutions. This study aims to evaluate the trend in the prevalence of ACS over time within the state of Florida.

This is a population-based retrospective study using deidentified data from the Florida's Agency of Healthcare Database between 2006 and 2021. A total of 16 217 617 patients were evaluated within the intensive care unit (ICU), with 4002 developing ACS. The primary outcome was the development of ACS. Secondary outcomes were mortality, ICU days, number of surgeries, hospital days, and complication rates.

Patients with ACS were typically younger (>64 yrs, 34.9% vs 55.3%, P < .0001), male (65.3% vs 51.2%, P < .0001), and more frequently diagnosed with shock compared to the overall ICU population. Patients with ACS were more likely to be self-pay (6.3% vs 5.5%, P = .02) and non-White. The reported prevalence of ACS increased from 53 per million (2006) to 402 per million (2021). Mortality for ACS ranged from 39.4% to 55.4% but remained unchanged during the study period. Hospital length of stay for ACS trended down from 29.8 days to 22.4 days during the study period, while it remained unchanged for all ICU patients (6.82 to 7.54 days).

The prevalence of ACS has increased over the years within the state of Florida. Mortality and complication rates have remained relatively unchanged. Hospital length of stay has decreased during that same time period.