Reduction of Intra-abdominal Hypertension Is Associated with Increase of Cardiac Output in Critically Ill Patients Undergoing Mechanical Ventilation

To demonstrate the relationship between intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and cardiac output (CO) in mechanically ventilated (MV), critically ill patients. This was a single-center, prospective study performed between January and April 2016, on 30 mechanically ventilated patients (mean age 67.3 ± 11.9 years), admitted in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the Emergency County Hospital of Tîrgu Mureș, Romania, who underwent measurements of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Patients were divided into two groups: group 1 – IAP 12 mmHg (n = 9). In 23 patients who survived at least 3 days post inclusion, the variation of CO and IAP between baseline and day 3 was calculated, in order to assess the variation of IAP in relation to the hemodynamic status. IAP was 8.52 ± 1.59 mmHg in group 1 and 19.88 ± 8.05 mmHg in group 2 (p