Measurement of intra-abdominal pressure in dogs and cats.

Objective: To review and summarize the human and veterinary literature on intra-abdominal pressure measurement techniques.
Data Sources: Human and veterinary clinical studies, research articles, reviews, and textbooks with no date restrictions with a focus on techniques for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measurement and their limitations.
Human Data Synthesis: Human literature has established the intravesicular method as the gold standard for indirect measurement of IAP. However, current research has explored the intragastric method as a valid alternative. Recently, debate has focused on the shortcomings of the various measurement methods.
Veterinary Data Synthesis: Early human literature using dogs as models contributed to the original data for IAP measurements in small animals. Since that time, a number of clinical studies and 1 case report have contributed to that original information. A reference interval for IAP measured by the intravesicular method has recently been determined in healthy cats.
Conclusions: Further studies investigating IAP in critically ill veterinary patients are required to establish the optimal technique for this measurement in veterinary medicine.
(© Veterinary Emergency and Critical Care Society 2012.)