Measurement of intra-abdominal pressure in intensive care units in the United Kingdom: a national postal questionnaire study.

BACKGROUND: To explore the attitudes of intensivists in the UK to intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measurement and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) and to determine current practice.
METHODS: A postal questionnaire study addressed to the lead clinician in the intensive care unit was sent to hospitals in the UK with a general surgical service.
RESULTS: Completed questionnaires were received from 137 of the 207 hospitals surveyed (66.2% response rate). Only 1.5% of the respondents (n=2) had no prior knowledge of intra-abdominal hypertension and ACS. IAP had been measured on some occasion by 75.9% (n=104) of the respondents, always by the intravesical route. Among those intensive care units that measured IAP, in 93.2% (n=97) it was only measured when there was a suspicion of the development of ACS; 3.8% of units (n=4) measured IAP on all patients who had undergone an emergency laparotomy, and 2.9% (n=3) measured IAP only in those who had undergone emergency laparotomy associated with massive fluid resuscitation. There was major disparity in the frequency of IAP measurement and when to recommend abdominal decompression.
CONCLUSIONS: Despite widespread awareness of IAH and the ACS, many intensive care units never measure the IAP. When it is measured, the intravesical route is used exclusively. No consensus exists on optimal timing of measurement or when decompressive laparotomy should be performed.