Round belly sign (abdominal compartment syndrome)

Last revised by Raphael Ambros on 14 Dec 2020

Citation, DOI, disclosures and article data

Citation:

Hacking C, Ambros R, Sharma R, et al. Round belly sign (abdominal compartment syndrome). Reference article, Radiopaedia.org (Accessed on 24 Apr 2024) https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-66776

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.53347/rID-66776

Permalink:

https://radiopaedia.org/articles/66776

rID:

66776

Article created:

5 Mar 2019, Craig Hacking ◉ ◈

Disclosures:

At the time the article was created Craig Hacking had no recorded disclosures.

View Craig Hacking's current disclosures

Last revised:

14 Dec 2020, Raphael Ambros ◉

Disclosures:

At the time the article was last revised Raphael Ambros had no recorded disclosures.

View Raphael Ambros's current disclosures

Revisions:

5 times, by 5 contributors - see full revision history and disclosures

Systems:

Vascular, Gastrointestinal, Hepatobiliary, Trauma

Sections:

Signs

Synonyms:

Round belly sign

Round belly sign is a sign of increased abdominal pressure of greater than 20 mmHg in abdominal compartment syndrome where the abdomen has a rounded appearance of transverse section on CT, rather than its typical oval shape.

The sign is positive when the AP to transverse diameter of the abdomen (abdominal ratio) is >0.80 ¹. To measure the ratio, the maximal anteroposterior abdominal diameter (AP) and transverse abdominal diameter (TV) are measured on a transverse image of the abdomen at the level of the left renal vein crossing the abdominal aorta. Subcutaneous fat is not to be included in the ratio. The abdominal ratio is AP/TV (see figure 1) and should normally be <0.80.