The Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (ACS) after Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (AAA) open repair

Objective: The abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a ‘condition in which increased tissue pressure in a confined anatomic space, causes decreased blood flow leading to ischaemia and dysfunction and leading to permanent impairment of function’. Methods: Between June 2007 and June 2008 we treated surgically 23 cases of AAA (14 in election and nine in emergency), with indirect intra- abdominal pressure (IAP) monitoring (intra-vescical catheter). Mean age was 68 (64–84) years, 19 males and 4 females. Mean transverse diameter was 6.2 cm (5.5–9.0). Preoperative diagnostic procedure was ultrasound and tomography when possible. All patients were managed in hypotensive hemostasis (restricting fl…