Adjustable suture-tension closure of the open abdomen

Early Definitive Closure of the Open Abdomen: A Quiet Revolution

Contrary to the management strategy recommended only 2-3 years ago, temporarily covering the open abdomen with an absorbable mesh or a plastic sheath without preserving the peritoneal space is no longer considered in the patient's best interest. The use of the vacuum pack, in conjunction with vacuum-assisted wound management and new biological prostheses now offer patients with an open abdomen a better and simpler alternative to the giant "planned ventral hernia". With very few exceptions in the most critically ill patients, the survivors of damage control surgery or infected pancreatic necrosis should not be sent home with a huge defect only to undergo a complex reconstruction a year later. Simpler and better alternatives exist. The new concepts and technologies presented in this review, when widely adopted, will rapidly translate into safer and better management of the patient with an open abdomen.

Understanding Intra-Abdominal Hypertension

Received November 10, 2009. Received Revised June 17, 2010. Submitted June 21, 2010. Intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS) are highly morbid conditions that are common and underrecognized in the intensive care unit. Intra-abdominal hypertension affects the critically ill patient population and is not solely limited to the trauma and surgical subgroups. The recognition of IAH and ACS as distinct clinical states has become more apparent. Extensive bench and clinical research has shed significant light into the definition, incidence, etiology, physiology, clinical manifestations, and treatment strategies. Although further research into this morbid condition is needed, improvement in recognition is a critical first step. This review aims to scrutinize the basic science and clinical literature available on this condition in a surgically focused, organ-system-based approach.

Abdominal compartment syndrome: a concise clinical review

OBJECTIVE

There has been an increased awareness of the presence and clinical importance of abdominal compartment syndrome. It is now appreciated that elevations of abdominal pressure occur in a wide variety of critically ill patients. Full-blown abdominal compartment syndrome is a clinical syndrome characterized by progressive intra-abdominal organ dysfunction resulting from elevated intra-abdominal pressure. This review provides a current, clinically focused approach to the diagnosis and management of abdominal compartment syndrome, with a particular emphasis on intensive care.

METHODS

Source data were obtained from a PubMed search of the medical literature, with an emphasis on the time period after 2000. PubMed "related articles" search strategies were likewise employed frequently. Additional information was derived from the Web site of the World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (http://www.wsacs.org).

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

The detrimental impact of elevated intra-abdominal pressure, progressing to abdominal compartment syndrome, is recognized in both surgical and medical intensive care units. The recent international abdominal compartment syndrome consensus conference has helped to define, characterize, and raise awareness of abdominal compartment syndrome. Because of the frequency of this condition, routine measurement of intra-abdominal pressure should be performed in high-risk patients in the intensive care unit. Evidence-based interventions can be used to minimize the risk of developing elevated intra-abdominal pressure and to aggressively treat intra-abdominal hypertension when identified. Surgical decompression remains the gold standard for rapid, definitive treatment of fully developed abdominal compartment syndrome, but nonsurgical measures can often effectively affect lesser degrees of intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome.

Estudio clínico aleatorizado entre sutura de polidioxanona y de naylon en el cierre de laparotomía en pacientes de riesgo

INTRODUCTION

The complications of surgical wound closure in patients with risk factors significantly increases morbidity and mortality. The aim of the present study was to evaluate differences in abdominal wall closure in patients with risk factors with the same closure technique and slow-absorbable or non-absorbable sutures.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We performed a prospective, multicenter, comparative study of polydioxanone versus nylon sutures. Laparotomies performed for intestinal diseases and hepatobiliopancreatic procedures in patients with at least one risk factor were included. Exclusions criteria were eventrations, interventions for obesity, the need for reinforcement sutures, uncommon incisions, life expectancy of less than 1.5 years and deaths unrelated to the wound. Closure was performed with monoplane, extracutaneous, continuous, en bloc, loop sutures. Infection, evisceration, dehiscence, extrusion, sinus, eventration, intolerance, and pain were evaluated. Postoperative follow-up was performed at 10 and 30 days, 3 and 6 months, and at 1 and 1.5 years.

RESULTS

A total of 770 patients were included (451 in the polydioxanone group and 319 in the nylon group). A total of 78.05% were midline incisions, with a mean length of 23.3 cm. Caliber 1 sutures were most frequently used (85.45%), and 1.7 sutures were used per patient. No complications occurred in 94.03% with no differences between groups (94.7% polydioxanone and 93.1% nylon). The results were similar throughout follow-up. The surgical infection rate was 10%. No differences were found in any of the follow-up assessments in any of the variables analyzed.

CONCLUSIONS

Abdominal wall closure should be performed with continuous slow-absorption sutures such as polydioxanone since this type of suture has a similar complication rate to reabsorbable sutures and presents greater biocompatibility.