The Netherlands journal of medicine
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Lately renewed attention has been given to the abdominal compartment syndrome. Despite of this there still remain a lot of controversies with regard to the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this syndrome and the therapeutic options. ⋯ The abdominal compartment syndrome is a well-recognised disease entity related to acutely increased abdominal pressure. Urgent laparotomy can be lifesaving in some cases. However no single threshold of abdominal pressure can be applied universally. Pending further clinical trials the best therapeutic option seems to be to decompress the abdomen surgically if the intravesical pressure is 25 mmHg or higher in patients with refractory hypotension, acute renal failure or respiratory failure due to abdominal distension.