Obesity Does Not Increase Risk for Mortality in Severe Sepsis Trauma Patients

Area of Science:

• Trauma and Critical Care Medicine
• Sepsis Pathophysiology
• Obesity Epidemiology

Background:

• Obesity affects up to 40% of US adults.
• Obese patients with severe sepsis show lower mortality than normal BMI patients.
• This study investigates obesity's impact on mortality in severe sepsis trauma patients.

Purpose of the Study:

• To test the hypothesis that obese trauma patients with severe sepsis have decreased mortality risk.
• To compare mortality risk between obese and normal BMI trauma patients with severe sepsis.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the 2017 Trauma Quality Improvement Program database.
• Included adult trauma patients with severe sepsis and documented BMI.
• Grouped patients into non-obese (BMI <30 kg/m²) and obese (BMI ≥30 kg/m²).
• Employed multivariable logistic regression for mortality analysis.

Main Results:

• Analyzed 1246 patients: 566 non-obese (42.4%) and 680 obese (57.6%).
• Obese trauma patients (OTP) had longer length of stay (LOS), ICU LOS, and ventilator days (P < .001).
• After covariate adjustment, overweight, obese, severely obese, and morbidly obese patients showed similar mortality risk compared to normal BMI patients.

Conclusions:

• Obese trauma patients with severe sepsis experienced increased LOS, ICU LOS, and ventilator days.
• Increasing degrees of obesity were associated with similar mortality risk compared to normal BMI trauma patients with severe sepsis.