ABSTRACT
INTRODUCTION Trauma was the fi fth overall leading cause of death in the United States from 2001 to 2005 (1) . From 1985 to 2004, the rate of trauma related deaths was stable with trauma accounting for 167,184 deaths (7% of all deaths) in 2004 (2) . In 2004, trauma also accounted for 31 million initial emergency department (ED) visits (32% of all ED visits) and 1.9 million hospital discharges (6% of all discharges) (2) . Since the late 1980s, emergency care providers have had increasing numbers of obese trauma victims as the prevalence of overweight [body mass index (BMI) > 25-30 kg/m 2 ], obese (BMI > 30-40 kg/m 2 ), and morbidly obese (BMI > 40 kg/m 2 ) people has increased (3) . The obese trauma patient poses signifi cant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
