Complications Seen in Trauma Patients Requiring Temporary Abdominal Closure (TAC)

 

Temporary abdominal closure involves:

(1) placing an external barrier to cover the abdominal contents

(2) leaving abdominal fascial layers disconnected (open)

 

TAC may be done:

(1) as part of damage control surgery (DCS)

(2) if the risk for abdominal compartment syndrome is high

 

Complications:

(1) infection (peritonitis, abscesses, etc)

(2) hypovolemic shock

(3) postoperative complications (fistula, etc)

(4) death

 

Risk factors for nonsurvival on multivariate analysis:

(1) older age (in this series age > 40 years)

(2) high initial base deficit (in this series a base deficit < -10)