Acute Gastrointestinal Injury

“It’s all in the gut” says Manu Malbrain. In light of this aphorism, the acknowledgment and the understanding of mechanisms of gastrointestinal pathophysiology has led to the codification of the concept of gastrointestinal failure and the definition of Acute Gastrointestinal Injury (AGI). Undoubtedly, the intestine plays an important role in the development of sepsis syndrome and MOF. Modification of the gut barrier seems to occur clinically and to be responsible for the increased prevalence of infectious complications in critically ill patients. The term “Acute Gastrointestinal Injury” (AGI) has been proposed to address GI dysfunction as part of the multiple organ dysfunction syndrome in critically ill patients, whether or not they have primary abdominal pathology.