| Abstract: Aims
Abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS), whilst an increasingly recognised clinical phenomenon occurring in critically ill patients [1,2], has not undergone a systematic literature review. This study undertook an analysis of the current level of evidence of publications relating to ACS.
Method
A literature search was conducted from 1966 up to and including June 2004. Seven bibliographic databases were searched for all articles relating to intraabdominal pressure (IAP), intraabdominal hypertension (IAH) and ACS. Non-English language articles were included only if an English abstract was available. The abstracts were reviewed independently by two reviewers.
Relevant articles were extracted and graded according to the level of evidence as recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) [3]. Papers that did not fit within these levels of evidence were categorised according to study design or publication type.
Results
There were 428 articles identified, 98 of which were classifiable in terms of levels of evidence: 68 Level IV, 21 Level III-2, 9 Level II and 0 Level I. Of the remaining 330 articles, 133 related to animal/laboratory studies, 94 reviews, discussions or editorials, 66 case reports, 14 measurement studies, 13 letters, 5 diagnostic tests, 4 surveys and 1 cost-analysis. In total, the number of articles published increased from 3 in the 60s, 7 in the 70s, 45 in the 80s, 173 in the 90s and so far in the 2000s.
Conclusion
This study has identified that recent publications relating to IAP, IAH and ASC are of a relatively low level of evidence or are based on animal or laboratory studies. Rigorous scientific research in the form of large prospective human studies relating to ACS is required.
|
