Panniculus Morbidus: A New Global Health Crisis Due to Extreme Obesity

Abstract

At present panniculus morbidus becomes a cause of various physical complications, such as chronic cellulitis, skin rashes, intertriginous dermatitis, subcutaneous abscesses, folliculitis, skin ulcerations, fistulas, and ischemic panniculitis. Panniculus is seemed as an apron of an extremely large fold of excess skin, tissue, and fat hanging from the abdomen below the waistline and even down to the groin. It is extremely unsightly, painful, and susceptible to various infections. It is found in people who are severely obese, after extreme weight loss (usually 100 pounds or more) through the diet, fasting, and exercise or following gastric restrictive surgery. Medicine, exercise, diet or any other mechanism cannot cure panniculus morbidus; and in this stage, bariatric surgery is needed for the welfare of the panniculus patients.