Obese patients with hip fractures are at increased risk of perioperative complications due to both their size and associated medical conditions. The purpose of this report is to describe a technique for intraoperative positioning of obese patients who sustain a hip fracture. A 62-year-old female with a history of morbid obesity (BMI 48.06kg/m2), type II diabetes mellitus, and hypertension presented with a right intertrochanteric fracture and was admitted for operative fixation on a fracture table. A standardized approach for systematic patient positioning and abdominal panniculus taping is described, which facilitates operative repair of the hip fracture using a cephalomedullary nail. This report describes the intraoperative positioning technique of a morbidly obese patient with an intertrochanteric hip fracture in order to highlight specific techniques used to deal with the physical aspects of obesity that can improve the surgical efficiency of the procedure. By positioning obese patients in a standardized way, intraoperative time and complications will be decreased, potentially mitigating some of the risks associated with this patient population.
Keywords: elderly; hip fracture; intraoperative positioning; obese; technique.
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