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Sepsis and severe sepsis are the most common cause of death among critically ill patients admitted in medical intensive care units. As more than one-third of the adult population of the United States is obese; we undertook a systematic review of the association between obesity and mortality among patients admitted with sepsis, severe sepsis, or septic shock.

A systematic review was conducted to identify pertinent studies using a comprehensive search strategy. Studies reporting mortality in obese patients admitted with sepsis were identified.

Our initial search identified 183 studies of which 7 studies met our inclusion criteria. Three studies reported no significant association between obesity and mortality, 1 study observed increased mortality among obese patients, whereas 3 studies found lower mortality among obese patients.

Our review of the current clinical …