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Who are we?

The World Society of the Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (WSACS) was founded in 2004 by a group of international physicians and surgeons who recognized the need for a cohesive approach to promoting research, fostering education, and improving the survival of patients with intra-abdominal hypertension (IAH) and/or abdominal compartment syndrome (ACS). While it remains a fledging society, the WSACS has arguably accomplished a great deal in its first three years including the development of evidence-based medicine consensus definitions and recommendations statements, publication of the first textbook on ACS as well as a monograph of cutting-edge research findings, and development of a worldwide network of clinicians and research scientists.

Mission Statement

Unlike many commonly encountered disease processes which remain within the purview of a given discipline, IAH and ACS readily cross the usual barriers and may occur in any patient population regardless of age, illness, or injury. As a result, no one scientific society or association can represent the wide variety of physicians, nurses, respiratory therapists, and other allied healthcare personnel who might encounter patients with IAH and/or ACS in their daily practice. To fill this void, the World Society on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome (WSACS) has been founded to serve as a peer-reviewed forum and educational resource for all healthcare providers as well as industry who have an interest in IAH and ACS. Launched at the second World Congress on Abdominal Compartment Syndrome in December 2004, the mission of the WSACS is to foster education, promote research, and thereby improve the survival of patients with IAH and ACS by bringing together physicians, nurses, and others from throughout the world and from a variety of clinical disciplines.

WSACS executive committee meeting (Jan De Waele, Andy Kirkpatrick, Rao Ivatury, Manu Malbrain, Martin Bjorck, Ari Leppaniemi, Michael Sugrue, Annika Reintam and Scott d’Amours).

WSACS Executive Committee

Ted Kimball
Utah, USA
President and Chairman
Bruno Pereira Campinas
Brazil
Past-President
Andy Kirkpatrick
Calgary, Canada
Past-President
Jan De Waele
Ghent, Belgium
Past-President
Zsolt Bodnar
Letterkenny, Ireland
Secretary
Manu L.N.G. Malbrain
Brussels, Belgium
Past-President, Treasurer
Bart de Keulenaer
Fremantle, Australia
Scott D’Amours
Sydney, Australia
Scientific Program Chair
Stefan Acosta
Sweden
Janeth Chiaka Ejike
California, USA
Annika Reintam Blaser
Estonia
CTWG Chair
Michael Sugrue
Letterkenny, Ireland
Past President

The patient care algorithms and guidelines promoted by the WSACS have been demonstrated to significantly improve patient survival from IAH and ACS, disease processes that were widely reported to have mortality rates of up to 100% only a decade ago.

The WSACS encourages all healthcare providers with an interest in IAH/ACS to become a lifetime FREE WSACS member and further the Society’s mission to foster education and improve patient survival. This app contains a variety of educational materials as well as a discussion forum to aid in this mission. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or suggestions that you might have (info@wsacs.org).

Join WSACS – free lifetime membership

  • Discounts on World Congress registration fees
  • Access FOAM content via WSACS app
  • Clinical Trials Working Group (CTWG) membership
  • Support for research proposals and funding
  • Late-breaking IAH/ACS news
The Abdominal Compartment Society (WSACS) welcomes all who have an interest in Intra-Abdominal Hypertension and Abdominal Compartment Syndrome.
Become a member