Open abdomen treatment often results in difficulties in closing the abdomen. Highest closure rates are seen with the vacuum assisted wound closure (VAWC) technique. Failures with this technique is occasionally experienced, especially in cases with severe visceral swelling needing longer treatment periods with open abdomen. A novel combination of vacuum assisted wound closure and mesh mediated fascial traction for managing the open abdomen was therefore developed and initially tested in a small pilot-like study with encouraging results with late primary closure of the abdomens in all seven patients.