Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU) are at risk of developing of intra abdominal hypertension (IAH) and\nabdominal compartment syndrome (ACS).\nAim: This review seeks to define IAH and ACS, identify the aetiology and presentation of IAH and ACS, identify IAP\nmeasurement techniques, identify current management and discuss the implications of IAH and ACS for nursing\npractice. A search of the electronic databases was supervised by a health librarian. The electronic data bases\nCumulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL); Medline, EMBASE, and the World Wide Web was\nundertaken from 1996- January 2011 using MeSH and key words which included but not limited to: abdominal\ncompartment syndrome, intra -abdominal hypertension, intra-abdominal pressure in adult populations met the\nsearch criteria and were reviewed by three authors using a critical appraisal tool. Data derived from the retrieved\nmaterial are discussed under the following themes: (1) etiology of intra-abdominal hypertension; (2) strategies for\nmeasuring intra-abdominal pressure (3) the manifestation of abdominal compartment syndrome; and (4) the\nimportance of nursing assessment, observation and interventions. Intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) and abdominal\ncompartment syndrome (ACS) have the potential to alter organ perfusion and compromise organ function
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