Bone to Skin Thickness Study: Obese Versus Normal Population

This study will examine pelvic CT scans of injured patients to determine skin thickness in
several distinct regions important in orthopedic surgery. All patients admitted to the
University of Mississippi Medical Center with a pelvic ring injury or acetabular fracture
obtain a pelvic CT scan as a standard part of patient evaluation. The CT scans attempt to
encompass the entire soft tissue sleeve from the skin edge to the pelvic bones. Several
landmarks described below have been described to measure important surgical sites where
obesity is problematical. Therefore this study is an attempt to quantify the size of the
soft tissue envelope in patients

However, patients who are markedly obese may be too large for the entire soft tissue sleeve
to be imaged with the CT scan. The second part of the study then is to validate the CT scan
measurements obtained using clinical measurements. The clinical measurements will be
obtained during operative management of displaced pelvic ring injuries and/or acetabular
fractures. During surgical exposure, a measuring tape will be used to measure the soft
tissue thickness in those areas corresponding to the CT scan measurements. These measures
will be compared to validate the effectiveness of CT scan measurements to accurately
document the soft tissue dimensions.