The foundation for the content on openabomen.org is a result of decades of research and experience in treating the difficult abdoment by Dr. Dietmar Wittmann, the inventor of the Wittmann Patch.

However the goal of openabdomen.org is to be a center of knowledge sharing surgeons and we therefore invite surgeons to contribute cases and content to be included in the website.

We invite contributions from surgeons in the forms of both case submissions and other content.

If you'd like to submit a case to be included in openabdomen.org please go to Submit a Case.

If you'd like to contribute content to any other section of openabdomen.org please contact Dr. Dietmar Wittmann at dhwittmann@openabdomen.org or go to Contact Us.

Membership is free and the registration process is fast and easy.  By becoming a member you will be able to fully participate in all of the benefits provided by openabdomen.org, including:

• Participating in online discussion of publications
• Participating in online discussions of cases
• Qualify to become a contributing editor and receive recognition for your contributions
• Receiving updates from our email newsletter if you so desire

Please note that openabdomen.org will not share you registration information with anybody.

Access to openabdomen.org is free of charge.

To become a member simply click on the ‘become a member’ link on the top right corner of the screen and follow the instructions.

Members can update there profile once they’ve logged in to openabdomen.org.  Simply click on your name in the top right corner of the screen and follow the on-screen instructions.

Only existing members can become contributing editors after review of their contribution to openabdomen.org with exceptions for leaders in the field.  Once you’ve logged in to openabdomen.org click on your name in the top right corner of the screen and select ‘Request to Become a Contributing Editor’.  Once your request has been reviewed and approved you will be contacted by Dr. Dietmar Wittmann to be recognized by the site.

openabdomen.org has implemented a strict process to ensure that all clinical cases presented on the website are published in strict compliance with HIPAA.

This process includes:

1. certification of HIPAA compliance when a case is submitted by a surgeon
2.  certification of local hospital/institution privacy policies by surgeons submitting a case.
3. membership review - members of openabdomen.org are encouraged to report any potential HIPAA violations to openabdomen.org immediately.

Surgeons must assure that case reports do not include any of the 18 health information identifiers noted in the HIPAA regulations, unless authorization from the individual(s) has been obtained. Authorization is not required if none of the 18 identifiers below are used in the case report.

List of 18 Identifiers

1. Names
2. All geographical subdivisions smaller than a State, including street address, city, county, precinct, zip code, and their equivalent geocodes, except for the initial three digits of a zip code, if according to the current publicly available data from the Bureau of the Census: (1) The geographic unit formed by combining all zip codes with the same three initial digits contains more than 20,000 people; and (2) The initial three digits of a zip code for all such geographic units containing 20,000 or fewer people is changed to 000.
3. All elements of dates (except year) for dates directly related to an individual, including birth date, admission date, discharge date, date of death; and all ages over 89 and all elements of dates (including year) indicative of such age, except that such ages and elements may be aggregated into a single category of age 90 or older;
4. Phone numbers
5. Fax numbers
6. Electronic mail addresses
7. Social Security numbers
8. Medical record numbers
9. Health plan beneficiary numbers
10. Account numbers
11. Certificate/license numbers
12. Vehicle identifiers and serial numbers, including license plate numbers
13. Device identifiers and serial numbers
14. Web Universal Resource Locators (URLs)
15. Internet Protocol (IP) address numbers
16. Biometric identifiers, including finger and voice prints
17. Full face photographic images and any comparable images
18. Any other unique identifying number, characteristic, or code (note this does not mean the unique code assigned by the investigator to code the data)

More information regarding HIPAA privacy can be found at the US Deparment of Health & Human Services. 

By using this Site, members acknowledge and agree to NOT post any content that: (1) is unlawful, harassing, defamatory, abusive, threatening, obscene, harmful, tortious, libelous, or invasive of another's privacy; and (2) infringes or violates any party's author's right, trademark, trade secret, patent or other proprietary right.  Members acknowledge and agree that they are solely responsible for the content of their comments and resulted harms arising from said content.

openabdomen.org is maintained as an information and educational resource for the physician community interested in advancing the treatment of the difficult abdomen.  The site contains forums in which members have online discussions.  Openabdomen.org reserves the right to review opinions posted by members and to remove and/or edit any posts in its sole discretion. Openabdomen.org further reserves the right in its sole discretion to terminate member access to the site at any time, without notice, for any reason whatsoever.

As a member you can participate in online discussion by posting your comments related to specific publication reviews, cases, or in the general discussion section.   Adding a comment is as simple as clicking on the ‘New Comment’ option while viewing any discussion.  Your comment will be added to the online discussion next to your display name.

By clicking the ‘Post New Topic’ function on the Discussion Category screen you are able to generate a new topic thread.  Other members will be able to view your topic and participate in your topic thread.

Members can view a list of discussions they are participating in by selecting the appropriate discussion type (Topic, Case of Publication) that they would like to see.  This would result in a list of discussions specific to the type selected in which they have previous posted comments.  This allows members to easily follow specific discussion threads.

Yes, openabdomen.org recognizes the need to educate concerned friends and family and has implemented specific functionality to assist time constrained physicians share knowledge.  Access to this function is gained by clicking on the ‘Information for Families’ link on the top right corner of any screen.   The Family Information Packet was designed to provide insight into the treatment of difficult abdomens in language that is easily understood.  Physicians have the option of printing out the information packet immediately or emailing it to family members.  In addition openabdomen.org also has a page on the website dedicated to helping families and friends understand the benefits of treating the open abdomen with Staged Abdominal Repair.

The functionality on openabdomen.org is certified to work with Mozilla Firefox, Internet Explorer 7 & 8 and Chrome.  While we have tested it with earlier versions of Internet Explorer we can't gaurantee that all of the functionality will work.

Openabdomen.org is funded and sponsored by NovoMedicus – a company that was created to improve patient care and increase access by partnering with physicians to the benefit of patients, physicians and society.  To learn more about NovoMedicus please visit us at www.novomedicus.com

Acronym for Staged Abdominal Repair - one operation of a series of operative abdominal entries with final fascial closure at the last abdominal entry and using a mesh device to facilitate temporary closure of the abdominal wound between the first and last STAR entry.

A velcro-like device used for temporary abdominal closure of the abdomen during STAR, consisting of two polypropylene or polyamide meshes that adhere to each other when pulled tangentially but not when pulled vertically.

Trade names

• ABC - Artificial Bur Closure
• ABCD - Artificial Bur Closure Device
• TFP - Temporary Fascia Prosthesis
• WP - Wittmann Patch^®
• WHP - Wittmann Hypopack™
   

A single laparotomy during a STAR.

The first laparotomy during a STAR.

STAR entries when the bur has already been sutured to the fascia to close and requiring that the bur is pulled apart to open the abdomen.  The STAR index entry is usually not a bur opening.

Acute physiology and chronic health evaluation score (Knaus, 1985).  The predicted mortality has been calculated using the original diagnostic weight provided in the original publication of Knaus.

Other references:

• Wikipedia
  

Patient was alive 60 days after the index STAR entry.

Sustained abdominal hypertension that permanently impairs organ perfusion and function.  It is ultimately lethal if not treated by abdominal decompression.  Other references:

• Abdominal Compartment Syndrome
  
• Wikipedia
  
• AbdominalCompartmentSyndrome.org
  
• World Society on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome

Any sustained elevation of intra-abdominal pressure over 10 torr (mmHg).