Morbidity and Mortality Outcomes Among Obese Versus Non-Obese Blunt Trauma Patients in Mississippi

INTRODUCTION: Obesity has become a significant public health issue. We hypothesize that obesity, as defined by BMI, is related to increased morbidity and mortality in severely injured patients (ISS>12) involved in motor vehicle crashes specifically.;Methods: The Trauma Registry of a Level 1 Trauma Center was used to identify all motor vehicle crash patients with age >15 from January 2006 to June 2012. Collection data included age, Glasgow Coma Score (GCS), BMI, Injury Severity Score (ISS) ≥12, total blood product requirement (TBPR), area of body injury, ventilator days, ICU LOS, HLOS, airbag (AB), restraints and mortality. Patients were grouped as Normal (BMI 18.5-24.5 kg/m2) and Overweight (BMI 25.0-29.9 40.0 kg/m2) vs. Obese (BMI 30.0-39.9 kg/m2) and Morbidly Obese (BMI ≥ 40.0 kg/m2). Significance was defined as p<0.05.;Results: A total of 2,019 patients met the study criteria. Demographics revealed means age 38.0, ISS 22.4, and BMI 27.7. Obese patients were more often restrained. Blood usage was similar for both groups. Significantly, HLOS, ICU LOS, and incidence of pelvic fractures were higher in the obese patients. Mortality and ventilator days were higher in the obese patient but not significantly different. These findings are summarized in Table 1.*.;Conclusions: Obesity and blunt trauma is associated with overall higher HLOS, and ICU LOS with lower ISS when compared to the non-obese. Morbidly obese blunt trauma victims are more likely to be restrained. Obese/Morbidly Obese have higher probability of pelvic injuries than abdominal injuries when unrestrained. Obesity is not an independent risk factor for mortality in blunt trauma patients with ISS ≥ 12 although does result in increased morbidity.;*Please refer to dissertation for table.