Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Severe Acute Pancreatitis - When to Decompress?

Intra-abdominal hypertension is increasingly reported in patients with severe acute pancreatitis, and is caused by several factors, including visceral edema and ascites associated with massive fluid resuscitation, paralytic ileus and retroperitoneal inflammation. There is a strong relation with early organ dysfunction and mortality in these patients, which makes intraabdominal hypertension an attractive target for intervention. Several reports conclude that this phenomenon occurs within the first 5 days after admission, and that the kinetics of IAH is important: patients with persistent IAH seem to be at the highest risk for mortality. Several strategies to reduce IAP have been developed, and given the pathophysiology, percutaneous drainage of ascites is a first logical step. However, if conservative measures fail to reduce IAP in a setting with ongoing or worsening organ dysfunction, abdominal decompression is recommended.