Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in Children

Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) is a clinical syndrome resulting from increased intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and characterized by progressive end-organ dysfunction and failure, affecting mainly the hemodynamic, respiratory, renal and gastrointestinal systems. If untreated, ACS can deteriorate rapidly to critical organ failure and death. On the other hand, rapid relief of the elevated IAP often reverses the adverse pathophysiologic changes promptly.