Background: Almost one out of four critically ill patients suffer from intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH). Currently, the gold standard for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measurement is via the bladder. Measurement of IAP is important to identify IAH and thus implement appropriate management in order to avoid complications. It may be possible to use anthropometric parameters to predict IAP and thus identify IAH non-invasively. Objective: This retrospective observational study investigated how the most relevant body parameters evolve in relation to IAP, and whether IAP can be predicted based on anthropometric parameters. The IAP and 28 body parameters of 96 critically ill patients were recorded. Following statistical analyses such as Pearson{\textquoteright}s and mutual information correlation, the collected data were used to train a simulation model to find reliable relationships between IAP, predict IAP value, and detect IAH. Results: Three metrics were shown to sufficiently predict intra-bladder pressure (IBP) with a Pearson{\textquoteright}s correlation of 0.75 (R2 = 0.56). These parameters are the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid to pubis distance, sagittal abdominal diameter, and abdominal compliance. Subsequently, we found 1 metric that is able to predict the presence of IAH with Pearson correlation of 0.89 (R2 = 0.79). This metric is the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid to pubis distance. Conclusion: Three measured body parameters showed a correlation of more than 50% with IBP. The parameters are enough for a reliable prediction of IBP, however, IAH can be most reliably predicted based on the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid-pubis distance and sagittal abdominal diameter. further studies over a wide range of patients with different body shapes are warranted to further validate these findings.
Tayebi, S, Wise, RD, van Regenmortel, N, Dits, H, Schoonheydt, K, De Laet, I, Malbrain, L, Stiens, J, Dabrowski, W & Malbrain, M 2025, 'Predicting Intra-Abdominal Hypertension Using Anthropometric Measurements and Machine Learning', Scientific Reports - Nature, vol. 15, 9532 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93823-7
Tayebi, S., Wise, R. D., van Regenmortel, N., Dits, H., Schoonheydt, K., De Laet, I., Malbrain, L., Stiens, J., Dabrowski, W., & Malbrain, M. (2025). Predicting Intra-Abdominal Hypertension Using Anthropometric Measurements and Machine Learning. Scientific Reports - Nature, 15, Article 9532 . https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-93823-7
@article{020ab044f8c849b68c9e585e1cf6ae98,
title = "Predicting Intra-Abdominal Hypertension Using Anthropometric Measurements and Machine Learning",
abstract = "Background: Almost one out of four critically ill patients suffer from intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH). Currently, the gold standard for intra-abdominal pressure (IAP) measurement is via the bladder. Measurement of IAP is important to identify IAH and thus implement appropriate management in order to avoid complications. It may be possible to use anthropometric parameters to predict IAP and thus identify IAH non-invasively. Objective: This retrospective observational study investigated how the most relevant body parameters evolve in relation to IAP, and whether IAP can be predicted based on anthropometric parameters. The IAP and 28 body parameters of 96 critically ill patients were recorded. Following statistical analyses such as Pearson{\textquoteright}s and mutual information correlation, the collected data were used to train a simulation model to find reliable relationships between IAP, predict IAP value, and detect IAH. Results: Three metrics were shown to sufficiently predict intra-bladder pressure (IBP) with a Pearson{\textquoteright}s correlation of 0.75 (R2 = 0.56). These parameters are the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid to pubis distance, sagittal abdominal diameter, and abdominal compliance. Subsequently, we found 1 metric that is able to predict the presence of IAH with Pearson correlation of 0.89 (R2 = 0.79). This metric is the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid to pubis distance. Conclusion: Three measured body parameters showed a correlation of more than 50% with IBP. The parameters are enough for a reliable prediction of IBP, however, IAH can be most reliably predicted based on the difference between the convex and horizontal xiphoid-pubis distance and sagittal abdominal diameter. further studies over a wide range of patients with different body shapes are warranted to further validate these findings.",
keywords = "intra-abdominal pressure, anthropometric parameters, statistical analyses, predictive models",
author = "Salar Tayebi and Wise, {Robert Deon} and {van Regenmortel}, Niels and Hilde Dits and Karen Schoonheydt and {De Laet}, Inneke and Luca Malbrain and Johan Stiens and Wojciech Dabrowski and Manu Malbrain",
note = "Funding Information: The authors of the ETRO department acknowledge the \u201CSB Ph.D. fellow at FWO\u201D (\u201CSB-doctoraatsbursaal van het FWO\u201D), Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek\u2014Vlaanderen, Research Foundation\u2014Flanders, project number: 1S51124N. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2025.",
year = "2025",
month = mar,
day = "19",
doi = "10.1038/s41598-025-93823-7",
language = "English",
volume = "15",
journal = "Scientific Reports - Nature",
issn = "2045-2322",
publisher = "Nature Publishing Group",
}