title: Trauma in patients who are morbidly obese.
abstract: Trauma is the fifth leading cause of death in the United States. There is an eight-fold increase in mortality rates among victims of blunt trauma who are morbidly obese. Airway, circulation, and breathing mechanisms are altered in patients who are morbidly obese, which makes assessment and treatment difficult. Normal diagnostic and treatment procedures performed in the field and hospital must be modified. Some treatments or diagnostic procedures cannot be performed in the average hospital setting on patients who are obese; therefore, perioperative nurses must modify OR routines to provide care.
authors.affiliation: Hennepin County Medical Center, Minneapolis, USA.
authors.forename: Susan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bushard
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D009767:Obesity, Morbid / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing*; D009873:Operating Rooms; D013527:Perioperative Nursing; D013514:Surgical Procedures, Operative / Q000451:nursing; D014481:United States; D014947:Wounds and Injuries / Q000150:complications / Q000451:nursing