The prevalence, incidence and mortality associated with intra-abdominal hypertension among patients in intensive care units of a low-income country: a cohort study

Background : Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) is sustained increase in intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) ≥12 mmHg in adults and ≥10 mmHg in children. IAH has been noted to be associated with increased morbidity and mortality among critically ill patients. Measurement of IAP is common among at risk patients in the developed world. However, it has not received due attention in the majority of intensive care units (ICUs) in low-income countries, Uganda being one of these. This is evidenced by paucity of data and lack of protocols from the Ugandan Ministry of Health. This multi-center study was thus conducted to assess the prevalence, incidence and mortality associated with IAH among patients admitted to Ugandan ICUs. Methods: A multi-center prospective cohort study was conducted from September 2017 to February 2018 at three ICUs in Uganda. We consecutively enrolled 126 patients into the study. IAP was measured using the Harrahil manometer technique. Categorical variables were analyzed using the Chi square test and continuous variables analyzed using the t-test and Man Whitney test. The prevalence and incidence were determined using proportions and mortality was determined using survival analysis. Results: The median age was 33 years (26-48.5) for the patients without IAH and 42 years (29-55) for those with IAH. The majority of the patients were male and 9.6% of the patients were below 18 years. The prevalence of IAH was 62.7 (CI 54.1-71.3), whereas the 24 hour and 72 hour incidence of IAH was 9.3% (CI 1.3-17.2) and 14.3 % (CI 4.1-24.4), respectively.  Mortality was higher in patients with IAH compared to those without (p-value 0.003 and 0.028, mean and maximum IAP, respectively).  Conclusion: We found a high prevalence and incidence of IAH among critically ill patients, associated with a high mortality. Routine screening for IAH can preempt management strategies to mitigate this.