Effect of Body Mass Index on Intra-abdominal Pressure in Patients Hospitalized in ICUs

Introduction: Considering the prevalence of obesity, overweight and risk factors related to the patients with Intra-abdominal pressure, the body mass index is among the factor which should be highly focused on these patients. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of body mass index on Intra-abdominal pressure in patients hospitalized in ICUs. Procedure: The present research is a prospective, nonexperimental study conducted on 76 patients hospitalized in ICUs. Measurements of Intra-abdominal pressure were carried out based on the modified Korn method every day with 8-hour intervals. The instrument used for this purpose is a questionnaire consisting of three parts including demographic information, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score, and intra-abdominal pressure monitoring form and record of its related parameters. Findings: The mean body mass index (BMI) scores revealed that 27.60% of the patients suffer from overweight and 7.2% of them have obesity problems with Intra-abdominal pressure of 8.44 ± 4.02 mmHg. For 15.8% and 2.6% of samples, Intra-abdominal hypertension of types I and II were observed, respectively. No sample was detected within the abdominal compartment. The average Intra-abdominal pressure for different BMIs indicated a statistically significant difference (p = 0.007), whereby an increase in BMI, IAP also indicates an increase. Conclusion: The present research indicated no obesity evidence so that no relation was observed between IAP and obesity.