Awareness and diagnosis for intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) in neonatal (NICU) and pediatric intensive care units (PICU) – a follow-up multicenter survey

BACKGROUND: Constantly elevated intra-abdominal pressure (IAH) can lead to abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), which is associated with organ dysfunction and even multiorgan failure. Our 2010 survey revealed an inconsistent acceptance of definitions and guidelines among pediatric intensivists regarding the diagnosis and treatment of IAH and ACS in Germany. This is the first survey to assess the impact of the updated guidelines on neonatal/pediatric intensive care units (NICU/PICU) in German-speaking countries after WSACS published those in 2013. METHODS: We conducted a follow-up survey and sent 473 questionnaires to all 328 German-speaking pediatric hospitals. We compared our findings regarding awareness, diagnostics and therapy of IAH and ACS with the results of our 2010 survey. RESULTS: The response rate was 48% (n = 156). The majority of respondents was from Germany (86%) and working in PICUs with mostly neonatal patients (53%). The number of participants who stated that IAH and ACS play a role in their clinical practice rose from 44% in 2010 to 56% in 2016. Similar to the 2010 investigations, only a few neonatal/pediatric intensivists knew the correct WSACS definition of an IAH (4% vs 6%). Different from the previous study, the number of participants who correctly defined an ACS increased from 18 to 58% (p < 0,001). The number of respondents measuring intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) increased from 20 to 43% (p < 0,001). Decompressive laparotomies (DLs) were performed more frequently than in 2010 (36% vs. 19%, p < 0,001), and the reported survival rate was higher when a DL was used (85% ± 17% vs. 40 ± 34%). CONCLUSIONS: Our follow-up survey of neonatal/pediatric intensivists showed an improvement in the awareness and knowledge of valid definitions of ACS. Moreover, there has been an increase in the number of physicians measuring IAP in patients. However, a significant number has still never diagnosed IAH/ACS, and more than half of the respondents have never measured IAP. This reinforces the suspicion that IAH and ACS are only slowly coming into the focus of neonatal/pediatric intensivists in German-speaking pediatric hospitals. The goal should be to raise awareness of IAH and ACS through education and training and to establish diagnostic algorithms, especially for pediatric patients. The increased survival rate after conducting a prompt DL consolidates the impression that the probability of survival can be increased by timely surgical decompression in the case of full-blown ACS. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12887-023-03881-x.