Influence of overweight on the course of a mechanical injury

Abstract

A literature review deals with the importance of overweight in victims with severe mechanical injury. Mechanical trauma remains an important medical and social problem for humanity. The course of injury and its consequences depend not only on the nature of the trauma, but also on the initial status of victim. The individual characteristics of the patient (gender, age, concomitant somatic pathology, etc.) and the treatment strategy are of great importance, in particular the timing and extent of surgical interventions. In this aspect, the role of overweight, which is a serious health problem worldwide, deserves attention. Many clinical studies and meta-analyses have shown the impact of overweight and obesity on the severity of certain injuries, the course of the post-traumatic period, the frequency of general and local complications, and mortality. Most studies have found that obesity is a marker of a negative prognosis in abdominal injury, and increases the risk of major complications and death. Obesity has been found to be a risk factor for wound complications, intra-abdominal hypertension and abdominal compartment syndrome, acute kidney injury, infectious complications, deep vein thrombosis, thromboembolism and pneumonia. Obese patients who underwent laparotomy for abdominal trauma had higher mortality, longer duration of hospital treatment, and longer duration of stay in the intensive care unit. In addition, obesity impedes interventional manipulations (the placement of the central venous catheter, tracheal intubation, ventilation) and surgical interventions (fracture stabilization, abdominal and thoracic interventions), and reduces the diagnostic value of traditional methods for examination of patients. The negative impact of overweight and obesity should be taken into account when planning diagnostic and treatment strategy, but needs to be further investigated.