• Murse@slrpnk.net
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    1 day ago

    Pannus? I’m talking about the ‘apron’ of abdominal tissue that hangs in front of morbidly obese people. Under those things there’s often a lot of skin breakdown and infection - and in one of my patients, maggot infestation - because it becomes a progressively harder place to keep clean as they pack on more weight, then come to the ER once it looks like something from a zombie movie.

    Side note for my larger friends reading this: don’t neglect those nooks and crannies when performing hygiene! Dry it thoroughly, and keep it dry with powder or by keeping a layer of fabric in between areas with a fold so it’s not skin-on-skin. Often those first stages of an infection aren’t painful or anything, so by the time it’s actually bugging you, it’s BAD! Cleaning it can be tricky if your reach is limited, but you can get creative with it - one of my patients would bring a clean towel into the shower, soak it with soapy water, and kinda ‘floss’ into those folds. Dude was pushing 500 lbs, but never had skin issues. Lots of other issues, but he had hygiene down to a science.

    • Akagigahara@lemmy.world
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      22 hours ago

      Quick search seems to suggest you mean Panniculus, which sounds and reads similar enough that Wikipedia has a “not to be confused with” for Pannus.

      Also, TIL that piece has an actual name.

      • Murse@slrpnk.net
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        21 hours ago

        Looks like they’re interchangeable. In a clinical setting I’ve only ever used or heard it called a pannus. We even stock “pannus retractors” (basically a sticker with Velcro on the back - sticker part slaps onto the pannus, whole thing gets pushed wherever you need it, then Velcro straps connect to that to hold it on place).

        This might be a regional thing, too - chips vs fries kind of situation. Not sure where you’re posting from; I’m in that weird unstable area with all the guns that some orange neanderthal has been busy raping for the last couple of years.