Trends in open abdomen management in Italy: a subgroup analysis from the IROA project

Use of open abdomen (OA) progressively acquired increasing importance with the diffusion of the damage control management of critical patients. The purpose of the present study is to identify the state of the art about the use of OA in Italy, focusing on techniques, critical issues and clinical outcomes. A prospective analysis of adult patients enrolled in the IROA, limited to the Italian participating centres was performed. 375 patients were enrolled. Mean age was 64 +/- 16 years old, 56% of the patients were male, mean BMI was 26.9 +/- 5.2. Main indications for using OA were secondary peritonitis (32.5%), post-operative peritonitis (22.9%) and trauma (11.7%). Main OA techniques used were commercial negative pressure wound therapy (49.6%) and Bogota bag (27.7%). Definitive closure of the abdomen was reached in 82.4% of patients after 6 +/- 7 days of OA. The primary fascia closure rate was 84.7%. Overall mortality was 29.1%. The complication rate was 50.8%, with an enteroatmospheric fistula incidence: 7.5%. A univariate analysis performed on complication type found the duration of OA treatment (p = 0.024) to be statistically significant. Univariate analysis on mortality risk identified as significant age, duration of OA (in days) and pancreatitis as indication; multivariate analysis confirmed age (p < 0.001) and pancreatitis (p = 0.002) as statistically significant. A large variety of behaviours towards the patient requiring OA exists. A strong acceptance of common, recognized and evidence-based guidelines is essential, to obtain more uniformity in patient management and coherence of collected data, thus leading to improvement in outcomes and reduction of costs.