Ideal and Practical Open Abdomen Management (OAM) in Abdominal Compartment Syndrome

Abstract

Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a life-threatening emergency. In general, when the intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) fails to decrease despite medical treatment of ACS and the patient’s condition is categorized as grade Ⅳ (IAP 26 mmHg or higher) with organ damage, open abdomen management (OAM) is indicated because conservative treatment is not expected to be effective. However, once OAM has been established, the process to radical abdominal closure is not uniform, and the decision-making process always involves the need to choose between the ideal and practical.