Skin integrity, immobility, and pressure ulcers in class III obese patients Pennsylvania patient safety advisory Gardner, Lea Anne, author. Pagano, Maryann, author. Immobilization -- adverse effects Obesity -- complications Pressure Ulcer -- etiology Pressure Ulcer -- prevention & control Skin -- pathology Skin Care -- methods Immobility, excess adipose tissue, and changes in skin physiology place class III obese patients at risk for pressure ulcers, skin infections, and cuts, tears, abrasions, and lacerations. A review of five years of class III obese patient skin-related reports submitted to the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority identified that 20.7% of all skin-related event reports for class III obese patients with immobility issues were harmful skin-related events. This percentage is high compared with the percentage of harmful skin-related events (2.3%) out of all skin-related event reports submitted to the Authority in 2011. Pressure-related reports accounted for 85.0% of the skin integrity reports for class III obese patients with immobility issues, of which 57.7% were hospital-acquired conditions, 37.4% were present on admission, and 4.8% had no indication of the time the event occurred. The development and implementation of class III obese patient evidence-based skin care protocols and care plans, use of bariatric equipment, and effective communication are ways to mitigate the impact of immobility and skin challenges in class III obese patients. [Harrisburg, Pa.] : Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, [2013] Pennsylvania. Patient Safety Authority, issuing body. ECRI (Organization), issuing body. Institute for Safe Medication Practices, issuing body. Technical Report Text 1 online resource (1 PDF file (pages 50-54)). nlm:nlmuid-101609906-pdf 101609906 http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101609906 English Pennsylvania United States Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY-NC-ND license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0