Overview of the recent definitions and terminology for acute gastrointestinal injury, intra-abdominal hypertension and the abdominal compartment syndrome

This paper summarizes the latest definitions and terminology on acute gastrointestinal injury, intra-abdominal hypertension and the abdominal compartment syndrome in the intensive care unit patients as published recently by the Working Group on Abdominal Problems (WGAP) of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and the World Society on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (WSACS). The uniformity created is a great step forward for the evaluation of gastrointestinal function and abdominal hypertension in the critically ill and should assist in further research.