Morbid obesity causes chronic increase of intraabdominal pressure.

Intraabdominal hypertension and the abdominal compartment syndrome are known to deleteriously affect a wide array of organ systems. We retrospectively reviewed 62 women who underwent either laparoscopic gastric bypass surgery or adjustable gastric banding. Their age, body mass index (BMI), and race were known. Their opening abdominal pressure was recorded by connecting a Verress needle to a pressure monitor. Linear regression was used to assess the contribution of age, race, and BMI to the observed variation in opening abdominal pressure. Neither variation in age or race explained the variation in opening pressure (P > .05). By contrast, variation in BMI explained 8% of the observed variation in opening pressure (P < .05). For every 1 kg/mm(2) increase in BMI, there was on average a 0.07 mm Hg increase in opening pressure. Increases in BMI are associated with increases in intraabdominal pressure.