The Surviving Sepsis Campaign: results of an international guideline-based performance improvement program targeting severe sepsis

Multicentre observational study of adherence to Sepsis Six guidelines in emergency general surgery

BACKGROUND

Evidence-based interventions may reduce mortality in surgical patients. This study documented the prevalence of sepsis, adherence to guidelines in its management, and timing of source control in general surgical patients presenting as an emergency.

METHODS

Patients aged 16 years or more presenting with emergency general surgery problems were identified over a 7-day period and then screened for sepsis compliance (using the Sepsis Six standards, devised for severe sepsis) and the timing of source control (whether radiological or surgical). Exploratory analyses examined associations between the mode (emergency department or general practitioner) and time of admission, adherence to the sepsis guidelines, and outcomes (complications or death within 30 days).

RESULTS

Of a total of 5067 patients from 97 hospitals across the UK, 911 (18·0 per cent) fulfilled the criteria for sepsis, 165 (3·3 per cent) for severe sepsis and 24 (0·5 per cent) for septic shock. Timely delivery of all Sepsis Six guidelines for patients with severe sepsis was achieved in four patients. For patients with severe sepsis, 17·6-94·5 per cent of individual guidelines within the Sepsis Six were delivered. Oxygen was the criterion most likely to be missed, followed by blood cultures in all sepsis severity categories. Surgery for source control occurred a median of 19·8 (i.q.r. 10·0-35·4) h after diagnosis. Omission of Sepsis Six parameters did not appear to be associated with an increase in morbidity or mortality.

CONCLUSION

Although sepsis was common in general surgical patients presenting as an emergency, adherence to severe sepsis guidelines was incomplete in the majority. Despite this, no evidence of harm was apparent.

Comorbidities Might Condition the Recovery of Quality of Life in Survivors of Sepsis

PURPOSE:

To assess how preexisting disabling comorbidities (DC) affect the recovery rate of quality of life (QOL) over time in sepsis survivors.

METHODS:

A prospective study was conducted on sepsis survivors who answered the 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36) 7 days after discharge from the intensive care unit. Subsequent interviews were held at 3, 6, and 12 months. The results of the physical component score (PCS) and mental component score (MCS) of the SF-36 were evaluated. Patients were divided into 2 groups to compare patients with DC (DC group) and without DC (no-DC group). Quantile regression was used to model changes in PCS and MCS between different time points.

RESULTS:

Seventy-nine sepsis survivors were enrolled. After controlling for baseline age and QOL, the QOL scores were lower among patients with DC than in no-DC patients. The QOL of DC group got worse when compared to no-DC group. Recovery rate of PCS and MCS was higher in the DC group than in the no-DC group (PCS: 20.51 vs 16.96, P < .01; MCS: 19.24 vs 9.66, P < .01). Their baseline QOL was recovered only by 6 months after the sepsis episode.

CONCLUSION:

Quality-of-life impairment and its recovery rhythm in patients with sepsis appear to be conditioned by coexisting DC.

Impact of Delayed Admission to the Intensive Care Unit from the Emergency Department upon Sepsis Outcomes and Sepsis Protocol Compliance

Rationale. The impact of emergency department length of stay (EDLOS) upon sepsis outcomes needs clarification. We sought to better understand the relationship between EDLOS and both outcomes and protocol compliance in sepsis. Methods. We performed a retrospective observational study of septic patients admitted to the ICU from the ED between January 2012 and December 2015 in a single tertiary care teaching hospital. 287 patients with severe sepsis and septic shock were included. Study population was divided into patients with EDLOS < 6 hrs (early admission) versus ≥6 hours (delayed admission). We assessed the impact of EDLOS on hospital mortality, compliance with sepsis protocol, and resuscitation. Statistical significance was determined by chi-square test. Results. Of the 287 septic ED patients, 137 (47%) were admitted to the ICU in <6 hours. There was no significant in-hospital mortality difference between early and delayed admissions (p = 0.68). Both groups have similar compliance with the 3-hour protocol (p = 0.77). There was no significant difference in achieving optimal resuscitation within 12 hours (p = 0.35). Conclusion. We found that clinical outcomes were not significantly different between early and delayed ICU admissions. Additionally, EDLOS did not impact compliance with the sepsis protocol with the exception of repeat lactate draw.

Building Systemwide Improvement Capability: Does an Organization's Strategy for Quality Improvement Matter?

OBJECTIVES

Health care organizations have used different strategies to implement quality improvement (QI) programs but with only mixed success in implementing and spreading QI organization-wide. This suggests that certain organizational strategies may be more successful than others in developing an organization's improvement capability. To investigate this, our study examined how the primary focus of grant-funded QI efforts relates to (1) key measures of grant success and (2) organization-level measures of success in QI and organizational learning.

METHODS

Using a mixed-methods design, we conducted one-way analyses of variance to relate Veterans Affairs administrative survey data to data collected as part of a 3.5-year evaluation of 29 health care organization grant recipients. We then analyzed qualitative evidence from the evaluation to explain our results.

RESULTS

We found that hospitals that focused on developing organizational infrastructure to support QI implementation compared with those that focused on training or conducting projects rated highest (at α = .05) on all 4 evaluation measures of grant success and all 3 systemwide survey measures of QI and organizational learning success.

CONCLUSIONS

This study adds to the literature on developing organizational improvement capability and has practical implications for health care leaders. Focusing on either projects or staff training in isolation has limited value. Organizations are more likely to achieve systemwide transformation of improvement capability if their strategy emphasizes developing or strengthening organizational systems, structures, or processes to support direct improvement efforts.

Can we find accessible and relevant markers for sepsis outcome?

Background and Aim: Sepsis is a life-threatening disease with high mortality, therefore establishing early diagnostic and finding reliable prognostic biomarkers is vital. We aimed to investigate the prognostic role, as a single value, of serum procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, serum lactate, platelets number and serum glucose level in septic patients, all measured in the first 24 hours after hospital admittance.

Materials and methods: This retrospective study included 241 adult patients with sepsis, severe sepsis or septic shock. We use data from patients observation sheets. Data that were collected include: demographic parameters, comorbidities, necessity of mechanical ventilation and laboratory variables. We performed the statistical analysis with the chi square test for nonparametric data and to analyse the accuracy of prediction we used the receiver - operator curves with the level of significance set at p < 0.05.

Results: From 241 patients with a median age of 68 years, 127 (52.69%) were male.113 patients had severe sepsis. 89 patients (36.9%) died and male had an increase mortality rate. Most cases were respiratory sepsis (45.20%). The highest mortality rate was in septic shock (51.2%). Procalcitonin, C-reactive protein and glucose serum level at admittance were not correlated with mortality. The serum levels of creatinine >1.67 mg/dL and serum lactate >1.9 mmol/L at admittance were correlated with mortality (p < 0.01). The cutoff value of 121×103/uL platelets number was also correlated with mortality (p < 0.01).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that serum creatinine, serum lactate and the platelets number could be used as prognostic markers in septic patients at admittance.

Defining and Diagnosing Sepsis

Sepsis is a heterogeneous clinical syndrome that encompasses infections of many different types and severity. Not surprisingly, it has confounded most attempts to apply a single definition, which has also limited the ability to develop a set of reliable diagnostic criteria. It is perhaps best defined as the different clinical syndromes produced by an immune response to infection that causes harm to the body beyond that of the local effects of the infection.

Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Management of Sepsis

Sepsis represents a unique clinical dilemma with regard to antimicrobial stewardship. The standard approach to suspected sepsis in the emergency department centers on fluid resuscitation and timely broad-spectrum antimicrobials. The lack of gold standard diagnostics and evolving definitions for sepsis introduce a significant degree of diagnostic uncertainty that may raise the potential for inappropriate antimicrobial prescribing. Intervention bundles that combine traditional quality improvement strategies with emerging electronic health record-based clinical decision support tools and rapid molecular diagnostics represent the most promising approach to enhancing antimicrobial stewardship in the management of suspected sepsis in the emergency department.

Secondary Analysis of an Electronic Surveillance System Combined with Multi-focal Interventions for Early Detection of Sepsis

To conduct an independent secondary analysis of a multi-focal intervention for early detection of sepsis that included implementation of change management strategies, electronic surveillance for sepsis, and evidence based point of care alerting using the POC AdvisorTM application.

METHODS

Propensity score matching was used to select subsets of the cohorts with balanced covariates. Bootstrapping was performed to build distributions of the measured difference in rates/means. The effect of the sepsis intervention was evaluated for all patients, and High and Low Risk subgroups for illness severity. A separate analysis was performed patients on the intervention and non-intervention units (without the electronic surveillance). Sensitivity, specificity, and the positive predictive values were calculated to evaluate the accuracy of the alerting system for detecting sepsis or severe sepsis/ septic shock.

RESULTS

There was positive effect on the intervention units with sepsis electronic surveillance with an adjusted mortality rate of -6.6%. Mortality rates for non-intervention units also improved, but at a lower rate of -2.9%. Additional outcomes improved for patients on both intervention and non-intervention units for home discharge (7.5% vs 1.1%), total length of hospital stay (-0.9% vs -0.3%), and 30 day readmissions (-6.6% vs -1.6%). Patients on the intervention units showed better outcomes compared with non-intervention unit patients, and even more so for High Risk patients. The sensitivity was 95.2%, specificity of 82.0% and PPV of 50.6% for the electronic surveillance alerts.

CONCLUSION

There was improvement over time across the hospital for patients on the intervention and non-intervention units with more improvement for sicker patients. Patients on intervention units with electronic surveillance have better outcomes; however, due to differences in exclusion criteria and types of units, further study is needed to draw a direct relationship between the electronic surveillance system and outcomes.

Biomarkers for diagnosis of sepsis in patients with systemic inflammatory response syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Background

Sepsis is one of the most common diseases that seriously threaten human health. Although a large number of markers related to sepsis have been reported in the last two decades, the diagnostic accuracy of these biomarkers remains unclear due to the lack of similar baselines among studies. Therefore, we conducted a large systematic review and meta-analysis to evaluate the diagnostic value of biomarkers from studies that included non-infectious systemic inflammatory response syndrome patients as a control group.

Methods

We searched Medline, Embase and the reference lists of identified studies beginning in April 2014. The last retrieval was updated in September 2016.

Results

Ultimately, 86 articles fulfilled the inclusion criteria. Sixty biomarkers and 10,438 subjects entered the final analysis. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves for the 7 most common biomarkers, including procalcitonin, C-reactive protein, interleukin 6, soluble triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells-1, presepsin, lipopolysaccharide binding protein and CD64, were 0.85, 0.77, 0.79, 0.85, 0.88, 0.71 and 0.96, respectively. The remaining 53 biomarkers exhibited obvious variances in diagnostic value and methodological quality.

Conclusions

Although some biomarkers displayed moderate or above moderate diagnostic value for sepsis, the limitations of the methodological quality and sample size may weaken these findings. Currently, we still lack an ideal biomarker to aid in the diagnosis of sepsis. In the future, biomarkers with better diagnostic value as well as a combined diagnosis using multiple biomarkers are expected to solve the challenge of the diagnosis of sepsis.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s40064-016-3591-5) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Antibiotic resistance: A current epilogue

The history of the first commercial antibiotics is briefly reviewed, together with data from the US and WHO, showing the decrease in death due to infectious diseases over the 20th century, from just under half of all deaths, to less than 10%. The second half of the 20th century saw the new use of antibiotics as growth promoters for food animals in the human diet, and the end of the 20th century and beginning of the 21st saw the beginning and rapid rise of advanced microbial resistance to antibiotics.

Pulmonary Infection Is an Independent Risk Factor for Long-Term Mortality and Quality of Life for Sepsis Patients

Background. Long-term outcomes (mortality and health-related quality of life) of sepsis have risen as important indicators for health care. Pulmonary infection and abdominal infection are the leading causes of sepsis. However, few researches about long-term outcomes focused on the origin of sepsis. Here we aim to study the clinical differences between pulmonary-sepsis and abdominal-sepsis and to investigate whether different infection foci were associated with long-term outcomes. Methods. Patients who survived after hospital discharge were followed up by telephone interview. Quality of life (QoL) was assessed using the EuroQol 5-dimension (EQ5D) questionnaire. Results. Four hundred and eighty-three sepsis patients were included, 272 (56.3%) had pulmonary-sepsis, and 180 (37.3%) had abdominal-sepsis. The overall ICU and one-year mortality rates of the cohort were 17.8% and 36.1%, respectively. Compared with abdominal-sepsis, pulmonary-sepsis patients had older age, higher APACHE II, higher ICU mortality (31.7% versus 12.6%), and one-year mortality (45.4% versus 24.4%), together with worse QoL. Age, septic shock, acute renal failure, fungus infection, anion gap, and pulmonary infection were predictors for one-year mortality and pulmonary infection was a risk factor for poor QoL. Conclusions. Pulmonary-sepsis showed worse outcome than abdominal-sepsis. Pulmonary infection is a risk factor for one-year mortality and QoL after sepsis.

Scoring systems for the characterization of sepsis and associated outcomes

Sepsis is responsible for the utilisation of a significant proportion of healthcare resources and has high mortality rates. Early diagnosis and prompt interventions are associated with better outcomes but is impeded by a lack of diagnostic tools and the heterogeneous and enigmatic nature of sepsis. The recently updated definitions of sepsis have moved away from the centrality of inflammation and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria which have been shown to be non-specific. Sepsis is now defined as a "life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection". The Quick (q) Sequential (Sepsis-related) Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) score is proposed as a surrogate for organ dysfunction and may act as a risk predictor for patients with known or suspected infection, as well as being a prompt for clinicians to consider the diagnosis of sepsis. Early warning scores (EWS) are track and trigger physiological monitoring systems that have become integrated within many healthcare systems for the detection of acutely deteriorating patients. The recent study by Churpek and colleagues sought to compare qSOFA to more established alerting criteria in a population of patients with presumed infection, and compared the ability to predict death or unplanned intensive care unit (ICU) admission. This perspective paper discusses recent advances in the diagnostic criteria for sepsis and how qSOFA may fit into the pre-existing models of acute care and sepsis quality improvement.

Safer delivery of surgical services: a programme of controlled before-and-after intervention studies with pre-planned pooled data analysis

Background

High rates of iatrogenic harm have been confirmed in observational studies of surgery. Most interventions designed to reduce this have been targeted at either workplace culture or operational systems. We hypothesised that an integrated intervention addressing both culture and system might be more effective than either approach alone.

Objective

To evaluate interventions designed to improve surgical team performance by impacting culture or systems in isolation or combination.

Design

Five controlled intervention experiments, addressing system, culture or both, were performed in operating theatres. A final whole-system intervention study integrated approaches that showed benefit in these experiments. The five linked studies were subjected to a pre-planned pooled analysis to identify the effects of interventions, combinations and confounders. A qualitative interview study provided explanatory data on the mechanisms of intervention success and failure. An economic analysis was conducted.

Setting

Operating theatres in five hospitals, performing orthopaedic, trauma, vascular and plastic surgery were used for the linked studies. The final study occurred in a tertiary referral neurosurgery unit.

Participants

The main study subjects were clinical staff. Patient outcomes, both clinical and patient reported, were collected as secondary outcome measures.

Interventions

The interventions tested were (1) teamwork training (TT) based on the aviation crew resource management model, (2) the development of a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs), (3) a safety improvement programme based on lean principles, (4) TT plus SOPs and (5) TT plus lean. The final intervention used elements of all three strategies.

Main outcome measures

Primary outcomes were team non-technical skills [as measured by the Oxford Non-Technical Skills (NOTECHS) II scale score] and team technical performance (via the ‘glitch count’). Secondary outcomes were compliance with the World Health Organization (WHO)’s checklist procedures, patient length of stay, readmissions, 30-day mortality, complications and patient-reported outcome measures [as measured by the European Quality of Life-5 Dimensions (EQ-5D)]. A qualitative interview study provided explanatory data on the mechanisms of intervention success and failure. An economic analysis was conducted.

Data sources

Direct observation of whole operations, clinical records, hospital information systems and EQ-5D questionnaires. The qualitative study used semistructured interviews.

Statistical methods

Individual studies were analysed using two-way analysis of variance, and an overall individual patient pooled analysis was performed. Methods validation studies and other analyses used chi-squared test, correlation and regression methods as appropriate.

Results

We studied 453 operations. The results of single interventions were inconsistent. TT alone improved non-technical skills and WHO compliance (p < 0.001) but not technical performance, whereas the systems interventions (lean and SOP) improved non-technical skills and technical performance (p < 0.001), but were less effective in improving WHO compliance. The integrated intervention approaches improved all aspects of team performance except time-out attempt rate, whereas the single approaches were significantly poorer at improving checklist compliance (p < 0.001) and failed to improve glitch rate. Combining all three strategies did not increase the percentage of successful projects. The qualitative analysis confirmed that integrated interventions better addressed the breadth of challenges that face surgical safety but also indicated that differences in implementation between integrated- and single-intervention studies amplified their differential effect.

Conclusions

A combination of TT plus systems improvement training appears more effective in improving team performance than either approach alone. An implementation strategy based on an understanding of the barriers to change in hospitals is important for success.

Future work

More work is required to understand and measure barriers to safety improvement. Implementation strategies need to be tested empirically. Methods for delivering integrated interventions on a larger scale need development. A cluster randomised trial of the integrated-systems/culture-improvement approach is warranted.

Funding

The National Institute for Health Research Programme Grants for Applied Research programme.

A complex endeavour: an ethnographic study of the implementation of the Sepsis Six clinical care bundle

BACKGROUND

Implementation of the 'Sepsis Six' clinical care bundle within an hour of recognition of sepsis is recommended as an approach to reduce mortality in patients with sepsis, but achieving reliable delivery of the bundle has proved challenging. There remains little understanding of the barriers to reliable implementation of bundle components. We examined frontline clinical practice in implementing the Sepsis Six.

METHODS

We conducted an ethnographic study in six hospitals participating in the Scottish Patient Safety Programme Sepsis collaborative. We conducted around 300 h of non-participant observation in emergency departments, acute medical receiving units and medical and surgical wards. We interviewed a purposive sample of 43 members of hospital staff. Data were analysed using a constant comparative approach.

RESULTS

Implementation strategies to promote reliable use of the Sepsis Six primarily focused on education, engaging and motivating staff, and providing prompts for behaviour, along with efforts to ensure that equipment required was readily available. Although these strategies were successful in raising staff awareness of sepsis and engagement with implementation, our study identified that completing the bundle within an hour was not straightforward. Our emergent theory suggested that rather than being an apparently simple sequence of six steps, the Sepsis Six actually involved a complex trajectory comprising multiple interdependent tasks that required prioritisation and scheduling, and which was prone to problems of coordination and operational failures. Interventions that involved allocating specific roles and responsibilities for completing the Sepsis Six in ways that reduced the need for coordination and task switching, and the use of process mapping to identify system failures along the trajectory, could help mitigate against some of these problems.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation efforts that focus on individual behaviour change to improve uptake of the Sepsis Six should be supplemented by an understanding of the bundle as a complex trajectory of work in which improving reliability requires attention to coordination of workflow, as well as addressing the mundane problems of interruptions and operational failures that obstruct task completion.

Implementation of a multicenter performance improvement program for early detection and treatment of severe sepsis in general medical-surgical wards

Sepsis is a leading cause of in-hospital death, and evidence suggests a higher mortality in patients presenting with sepsis on the ward compared to those presenting to the emergency department. Ward patients who develop severe sepsis may have poor outcomes for a variety of reasons, including delayed diagnosis, lack of readily available staffing, and delayed treatment. We report on a multihospital quality improvement program for early detection and treatment of sepsis on general medical-surgical wards. We describe a multipronged approach to improve severe sepsis outcomes using the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Plan-Do-Study-Act model. Sixty sites engaged in a collaborative implementation process that aligned people, process, and technology. Based on our experience, we recommend a stepwise approach to implement such a program: (1) both administrative and clinical leadership commit to a common goal; (2) appoint clinical champions and give them authority to engage other clinicians to improve timeliness of interventions; (3) map workflows and processes to rely heavily on the nursing staff's ability to evaluate and report severe sepsis screening results; (4) if available, design and deploy technology with the assistance of clinical informaticians (eg, to enable electronic health records-based continuous screening); (5) to determine success, consider tracking screening compliance and process, and outcome measures such as length of stay and mortality. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2016;S11:32-S39. © 2016 Society of Hospital Medicine.

Positive impact of a clinical goal-directed protocol on reducing cardiac arrests during potential brain-dead donor maintenance

Background

The disproportion between the large organ demand and the low number of transplantations performed represents a serious public health problem worldwide. Reducing the loss of transplantable organs from deceased potential donors as a function of cardiac arrest (CA) may contribute to an increase in organ donations. Our purpose was to test the hypothesis that a goal-directed protocol to guide the management of deceased donors may reduce the losses of potential brain-dead donors (PBDDs) due to CA.

Methods

The quality improvement project included 27 hospitals that reported deceased donors prospectively to the Transplant Center of the State of Santa Catarina, Brazil. All deceased donors reported prospectively between May 2012 and April 2014 were analyzed. Hospitals were encouraged to use the VIP approach checklist during the management of PBDDs. The checklist was composed of the following goals: protocol duration 12–24 hours, temperature > 35 °C, mean arterial pressure ≥ 65 mmHg, diuresis 1–4 ml/kg/h, corticosteroids, vasopressin, tidal volume 6–8 ml/kg, positive end-expiratory pressure 8–10 cmH₂O, sodium < 150 mEq/L, and glycemia < 180 mg/dl. A logistic regression model was used to identify predictors of CA.

Results

There were 726 PBDD notifications, of which 324 (44.6) were actual donors, 141 (19.4 %) CAs, 226 (31.1 %) family refusals, and 35 (4.8 %) contraindications. Factors associated with CA reduction included use of the checklist (odds ratio (OR) 0.43, p < 0.001), maintenance performed inside the ICU (OR 0.49, p = 0.013), and vasopressin administration (OR 0.56, p = 0.04). More than three interventions had association with less CAs (OR 0.19, p < 0.001). After 24 months, CAs decreased from 27.3 % to 14.6 % (p = 0.002), reaching 12.1 % in the following two 4-month periods (p < 0.001). Simultaneous increases in organ recovered per donor and in actual donors were observed.

Conclusions

A quality improvement program based on education and the use of a goal checklist for the management of potential donors inside the ICU is strongly associated with a decrease in donor losses and an increase in organs recovered per donor.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13054-016-1484-1) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

The Physiology of Early Goal-Directed Therapy for Sepsis

In 2001, Rivers and colleagues published a randomized controlled trial of early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) for the treatment of sepsis. More than a decade later, it remains a landmark achievement. The study proved the benefits of early aggressive treatment of sepsis. However, many questions remain about specific aspects of the complex EGDT algorithm. Recently, 3 large trials attempted to replicate these results. None of the studies demonstrated a benefit of an EGDT protocol for sepsis. This review explores the physiologic basis of goal-directed therapy, including the hemodynamic targets and the therapeutic interventions. An understanding of the physiologic basis of EGDT helps reconcile the results of the clinical trials.

New Mandated Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Requirements for Sepsis Reporting: Caution from the Field

BACKGROUND

The release of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Service's (CMS) latest quality measure, Severe Sepsis/Septic Shock Early Management Bundle (SEP-1), has intensified the long-standing debate over optimal care for severe sepsis and septic shock. Although the last decade of research has demonstrated the importance of comprehensive bundled care in conjunction with compliance mechanisms to reduce patient mortality, it is not clear that SEP-1 achieves this aim. The heterogeneous and often cryptic presentation of severe sepsis and septic shock, along with the multifaceted criteria for the definition of this clinical syndrome, pose a particular challenge for fitting requirements to this disease, and implementation could have unintended consequences.

OBJECTIVE

Following a simulated reporting exercise, in which 50 charts underwent expert review, we aimed to detail the challenges of, and offer suggestions on how to rethink, measuring performance in severe sepsis and septic shock care.

DISCUSSION

There were several challenges associated with the design and implementation of this measure. The ambiguous definition of severe sepsis and septic shock, prescriptive fluid volume requirements, rigid reassessment, and complex abstraction logic all raise significant concern.

CONCLUSIONS

Although SEP-1 represents an important first step in requiring hospitals to improve outcomes for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock, the current approach must be revisited. The volume and complexity of the currently required SEP-1 reporting elements deserve serious consideration and revision before they are used as measures of accountability and tied to reimbursement.

Implementing sepsis bundles

Sepsis bundles represent key elements of care regarding the diagnosis and treatment of patients with septic shock and allow ones to convert complex guidelines into meaningful changes in behavior. Sepsis bundles endorsed the early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) and their implementation resulted in an improved outcome of septic shock patients. They induced more consistent and timely application of evidence-based care and reduced practice variability. These benefits mainly depend on the compliance with sepsis bundles, highlighting the importance of dedicated performance improvement initiatives, such as multifaceted educational programs. Nevertheless, the interest of early goal directed therapy in septic shock patients compared to usual care has recently been questioned, leading to an update of sepsis bundles in 2015. These new sepsis bundles may also exhibit, as the previous bundles, some limits and pitfalls and the effects of their implementation still needs to be evaluated.

AME evidence series 001-The Society for Translational Medicine: clinical practice guidelines for diagnosis and early identification of sepsis in the hospital

Sepsis is a heterogeneous disease caused by an infection stimulus that triggers several complex local and systemic immuno-inflammatory reactions, which results in multiple organ dysfunction and significant morbidity and mortality. The diagnosis of sepsis is challenging because there is no gold standard for diagnosis. As a result, the clinical diagnosis of sepsis is ever changing to meet the clinical and research requirements. Moreover, although there are many novel biomarkers and screening tools for predicting the risk of sepsis, the diagnostic performance and effectiveness of these measures are less than satisfactory, and there is insufficient evidence to recommend clinical use of these new techniques. As a consequence, diagnostic criteria for sepsis need regular revision to cope with emerging evidence. This review aims to present the most updated information on diagnosis and early recognition of sepsis. Recommendations for clinical use of different diagnostic tools rely on the Grades of Recommendation Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE) framework. Because most of the studies were observational and did not allow a reliable assessment of these tools, a two-step inference approach was employed. Future trials need to confirm or refute a particular index test and should directly explore relevant patient outcome parameters.

Epidemiologic trends of sepsis in western countries

Since the American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and the Society of Critical care Medicine (SCCM) published the first consensus definition of syndromes related to sepsis in 1992, the knowledge of epidemiology of sepsis has clearly improved, although no prospective studies have been performed to analyse the incidence of sepsis in general population. There are differences in epidemiologic trends in sepsis between western countries and low-income and middle-income countries. In the United States (US), most of epidemiologic studies have been based on large, administrative databases, reporting an increase in the incidence of severe sepsis over years. In general, studies describing epidemiology of sepsis outside the US use clinical definitions and intensive care unit (ICU) observational cohort designs instead of administrative databases and definitions. Incidence of sepsis has increased over years, probably due to progressive aging of population, the existence of more comorbidities and maybe the liberal use of sepsis codification, by including patients with less severity. Notwithstanding, mortality due to sepsis is clearly decreasing over years, probably to improvement in ICU care, although absolute mortality is growing on account of the raise in incidence. Risk factors for sepsis are the two ends of life, male sex, US black race, presence of comorbidities and certain genetic variants. Respiratory tract infections are the most common source of sepsis, and, nowadays, Gram-positive infections are more frequent that Gram-negative sepsis in most prospective studies.

Clinician Perception of the Effectiveness of an Automated Early Warning and Response System for Sepsis in an Academic Medical Center

RATIONALE

We implemented an electronic early warning and response system (EWRS) to improve detection of and response to severe sepsis. Sustainability of such a system requires stakeholder acceptance. We hypothesized that clinicians receiving such alerts perceive them to be useful and effective.

OBJECTIVES

To survey clinicians after EWRS notification about perceptions of the system.

METHODS

For a 6-week study period 1 month after EWRS implementation in a large tertiary referral medical center, bedside clinicians, including providers (physicians, advanced practice providers) and registered nurses (RNs), were surveyed confidentially within 2 hours of an alert.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

For the 247 alerts that triggered, 127 providers (51%) and 105 RNs (43%) completed the survey. Clinicians perceived most patients as stable before and after the alert. Approximately half (39% providers, 48% RNs) felt the alert provided new information, and about half (44% providers, 56% RNs) reported changes in management as a result of the alert, including closer monitoring and additional interventions. Over half (54% providers, 65% RNs) felt the alert was appropriately timed. Approximately one-third found the alert helpful (33% providers, 40% RNs) and fewer felt it improved patient care (24% providers, 35% RNs).

CONCLUSIONS

A minority of responders perceived the EWRS to be useful, likely related to the perception that most patients identified were stable. However, management was altered half the time after an alert. These results suggest further improvements to the system are needed to enhance clinician perception of the system's utility.

Point-of-Care Technologies for the Advancement of Precision Medicine in Heart, Lung, Blood, and Sleep Disorders

The commercialization of new point of care technologies holds great potential in facilitating and advancing precision medicine in heart, lung, blood, and sleep (HLBS) disorders. The delivery of individually tailored health care to a patient depends on how well that patient's health condition can be interrogated and monitored. Point of care technologies may enable access to rapid and cost-effective interrogation of a patient's health condition in near real time. Currently, physiological data are largely limited to single-time-point collection at the hospital or clinic, whereas critical information on some conditions must be collected in the home, when symptoms occur, or at regular intervals over time. A variety of HLBS disorders are highly dependent on transient variables, such as patient activity level, environment, time of day, and so on. Consequently, the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute sponsored a request for applications to support the development and commercialization of novel point-of-care technologies through small businesses (RFA-HL-14-011 and RFA-HL-14-017). Three of the supported research projects are described to highlight particular point-of-care needs for HLBS disorders and the breadth of emerging technologies. While significant obstacles remain to the commercialization of such technologies, these advancements will be required to achieve precision medicine.

Prehospital Lactate Measurement by Emergency Medical Services in Patients Meeting Sepsis Criteria

Introduction

We aimed to pilot test the delivery of sepsis education to emergency medical services (EMS) providers and the feasibility of equipping them with temporal artery thermometers (TATs) and handheld lactate meters to aid in the prehospital recognition of sepsis.

Methods

This study used a convenience sample of prehospital patients meeting established criteria for sepsis. Paramedics received education on systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria, were trained in the use of TATs and hand-held lactate meters, and enrolled patients who had a recent history of infection, met ≥ 2 SIRS criteria, and were being transported to a participating hospital. Blood lactate was measured by paramedics in the prehospital setting and again in the emergency department (ED) via usual care. Paramedics entered data using an online database accessible at the point of care.

Results

Prehospital lactate values obtained by paramedics ranged from 0.8 to 9.8 mmol/L, and an elevated lactate (i.e. ≥ 4.0) was documented in 13 of 112 enrolled patients (12%). The unadjusted correlation of prehospital and ED lactate values was 0.57 (p< 0.001). The median interval between paramedic assessment of blood lactate and the electronic posting of the ED-measured lactate value in the hospital record was 111 minutes. Overall, 91 patients (81%) were hospitalized after ED evaluation, 27 (24%) were ultimately diagnosed with sepsis, and 3 (3%) died during hospitalization. Subjects with elevated prehospital lactate were somewhat more likely to have been admitted to the intensive care unit (23% vs 15%) and to have been diagnosed with sepsis (38% vs 22%) than those with normal lactate levels, but these differences were not statistically significant.

Conclusion

In this pilot, EMS use of a combination of objective SIRS criteria, subjective assessment of infection, and blood lactate measurements did not achieve a level of diagnostic accuracy for sepsis that would warrant hospital prenotification and committed resources at a receiving hospital based on EMS assessment alone. Nevertheless, this work provides an early model for increasing EMS awareness and the implementation of novel devices that may enhance the prehospital assessment for sepsis. Additional translational research studies with larger numbers of patients and more robust methods are needed.

Knowledge about systemic inflammatory response syndrome and sepsis: a survey among Dutch emergency department nurses

Background

Sepsis has a high mortality. Early recognition and timely treatment are essential for patient survival. The aim of this study is to examine the factors that influence the knowledge and recognition of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria and sepsis by emergency department (ED) nurses.

Methods

A prospective, multi-center study including 216 ED nurses from 11 hospitals and academic medical centers in The Netherlands was conducted in 2013. A validated questionnaire was used to evaluate ED nurses’ knowledge about SIRS and sepsis. Questions about demographic characteristics were also included, to investigate factors that may contribute to the knowledge about SIRS and sepsis.

Results

The mean total score was 15.9 points, with a maximum possible score of 29 points. ED nurses employed at hospitals with a level 3 intensive care unit (ICU) scored significantly higher than their colleagues employed at hospitals with a level 1 or 2 ICU. Recently completed education in sepsis was associated with a higher score. The employees in low ICU level hospitals who reported recent education did not score significantly lower than their ICU level 3 colleagues. ED nurses over the age of 50 scored significantly lower than their younger colleagues.

Conclusions

The knowledge of ED nurses concerning SIRS and sepsis rises proportionally with the level of ICU in hospitals. Recent education in sepsis raises knowledge level as well. We recommend that when there is a low exposure rate to SIRS and sepsis, more emphasis should be placed on regular education.

Protocolised Management In Sepsis (ProMISe): a multicentre randomised controlled trial of the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of early, goal-directed, protocolised resuscitation for emerging septic shock

BACKGROUND

Early goal-directed therapy (EGDT) is recommended in international guidance for the resuscitation of patients presenting with early septic shock. However, adoption has been limited and uncertainty remains over its clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness.

OBJECTIVES

The primary objective was to estimate the effect of EGDT compared with usual resuscitation on mortality at 90 days following randomisation and on incremental cost-effectiveness at 1 year. The secondary objectives were to compare EGDT with usual resuscitation for requirement for, and duration of, critical care unit organ support; length of stay in the emergency department (ED), critical care unit and acute hospital; health-related quality of life, resource use and costs at 90 days and at 1 year; all-cause mortality at 28 days, at acute hospital discharge and at 1 year; and estimated lifetime incremental cost-effectiveness.

DESIGN

A pragmatic, open, multicentre, parallel-group randomised controlled trial with an integrated economic evaluation.

SETTING

Fifty-six NHS hospitals in England.

PARTICIPANTS

A total of 1260 patients who presented at EDs with septic shock.

INTERVENTIONS

EGDT (n = 630) or usual resuscitation (n = 630). Patients were randomly allocated 1 : 1.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

All-cause mortality at 90 days after randomisation and incremental net benefit (at £20,000 per quality-adjusted life-year) at 1 year.

RESULTS

Following withdrawals, data on 1243 (EGDT, n = 623; usual resuscitation, n = 620) patients were included in the analysis. By 90 days, 184 (29.5%) in the EGDT and 181 (29.2%) patients in the usual-resuscitation group had died [p = 0.90; absolute risk reduction -0.3%, 95% confidence interval (CI) -5.4 to 4.7; relative risk 1.01, 95% CI 0.85 to 1.20]. Treatment intensity was greater for the EGDT group, indicated by the increased use of intravenous fluids, vasoactive drugs and red blood cell transfusions. Increased treatment intensity was reflected by significantly higher Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores and more advanced cardiovascular support days in critical care for the EGDT group. At 1 year, the incremental net benefit for EGDT versus usual resuscitation was negative at -£725 (95% CI -£3000 to £1550). The probability that EGDT was more cost-effective than usual resuscitation was below 30%. There were no significant differences in any other secondary outcomes, including health-related quality of life, or adverse events.

LIMITATIONS

Recruitment was lower at weekends and out of hours. The intervention could not be blinded.

CONCLUSIONS

There was no significant difference in all-cause mortality at 90 days for EGDT compared with usual resuscitation among adults identified with early septic shock presenting to EDs in England. On average, costs were higher in the EGDT group than in the usual-resuscitation group while quality-adjusted life-years were similar in both groups; the probability that it is cost-effective is < 30%.

FUTURE WORK

The ProMISe (Protocolised Management In Sepsis) trial completes the planned trio of evaluations of EGDT across the USA, Australasia and England; all have indicated that EGDT is not superior to usual resuscitation. Recognising that each of the three individual, large trials has limited power for evaluating potentially important subgroups, the harmonised approach adopted provides the opportunity to conduct an individual patient data meta-analysis, enhancing both knowledge and generalisability.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN36307479.

FUNDING

This project was funded by the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Health Technology Assessment programme and will be published in full in Health Technology Assessment; Vol. 19, No. 97. See the NIHR Journals Library website for further project information.

Management of Septic Shock in the Remote Prehospital Setting

This study aims to assess the management of septic shock by air medical retrieval teams in the remote setting. A retrospective observational study was performed over 36 months. Sixty-seven adult patients who met the criteria for septic shock were included. Respiratory sepsis was the working diagnosis for 53% of patients; this was confirmed on intensive care unit (ICU) discharge in 39% of patients. Intravenous antibiotics and oxygen were delivered in over 90% of patients. Central and arterial line insertions were performed in 48% and 40% of patients, respectively, and 79% of patients were catheterized. Thirty-three percent of patients required intubation, and 80% of patients received an initial crystalloid fluid bolus of 20 mL/kg. Vasopressors were started in 89% of patients. Upon reaching definitive care, 91% of patients were admitted to a high-dependency or ICU setting, with a median length of ICU stay of 4 days and a 30-day mortality of 13%. Of those admitted to the ICU, intubation was required in 48%, new renal support in 20%, and blood pressure support in 84% of patients, respectively. Septic shock was recognized early and managed aggressively by remote retrieval teams, which may have contributed to the low mortality rate observed.

Validation of Test Performance and Clinical Time Zero for an Electronic Health Record Embedded Severe Sepsis Alert

BACHGROUND

Increasing use of EHRs has generated interest in the potential of computerized clinical decision support to improve treatment of sepsis. Electronic sepsis alerts have had mixed results due to poor test characteristics, the inability to detect sepsis in a timely fashion and the use of outside software limiting widespread adoption. We describe the development, evaluation and validation of an accurate and timely severe sepsis alert with the potential to impact sepsis management.

OBJECTIVE

To develop, evaluate, and validate an accurate and timely severe sepsis alert embedded in a commercial EHR.

METHODS

The sepsis alert was developed by identifying the most common severe sepsis criteria among a cohort of patients with ICD 9 codes indicating a diagnosis of sepsis. This alert requires criteria in three categories: indicators of a systemic inflammatory response, evidence of suspected infection from physician orders, and markers of organ dysfunction. Chart review was used to evaluate test performance and the ability to detect clinical time zero, the point in time when a patient develops severe sepsis.

RESULTS

Two physicians reviewed 100 positive cases and 75 negative cases. Based on this review, sensitivity was 74.5%, specificity was 86.0%, the positive predictive value was 50.3%, and the negative predictive value was 94.7%. The most common source of end-organ dysfunction was MAP less than 70 mm/Hg (59%). The alert was triggered at clinical time zero in 41% of cases and within three hours in 53.6% of cases. 96% of alerts triggered before a manual nurse screen.

CONCLUSION

We are the first to report the time between a sepsis alert and physician chart-review clinical time zero. Incorporating physician orders in the alert criteria improves specificity while maintaining sensitivity, which is important to reduce alert fatigue. By leveraging standard EHR functionality, this alert could be implemented by other healthcare systems.

[Value of blood lactic acid in evaluating disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the value of blood lactic acid (BLA) in evaluating disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis.

METHODS

A total of 484 children with sepsis were enrolled and divided into common sepsis group (n=310), severe sepsis group (n=105), and septic shock group (n=69). BLA level was measured before treatment, and the results of BLA re-examination after early fluid resuscitation were collected for children with septic shock and a BLA level of >2 mmol/L.

RESULTS

The BLA level increased with the increasing severity of sepsis. The analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the cut-off value of BLA for the diagnosis of septic shock was 2.25 mmol/L, with a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 79.8%. The fatality rates in the BLA ≤1 mmol/L, BLA 1.1-2 mmol/L, BLA 2.1-4 mmol/L, and BLA >4 mmol/L groups were 8.5%, 9.4%, 27.2%, and 67.6%, respectively, and the risk of death in the BLA >4 mmol/L group was 22.4 times that in the BLA ≤1 mmol/L group. In children with septic shock who had a BLA level of >2 mmol/L before treatment and whose BLA levels were ≤2 mmol/L or >2 mmol/L after resuscitation, the fatality rates were 33.3% and 69.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

BLA can be used to evaluate disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis, and a BLA level of 2.25 mmol/L has a high value in diagnosing septic shock. Early resuscitation helps BLA level return to normal and can improve the prognosis of children with septic shock.

[Value of blood lactic acid in evaluating disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis]

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the value of blood lactic acid (BLA) in evaluating disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis.

METHODS

A total of 484 children with sepsis were enrolled and divided into common sepsis group (n=310), severe sepsis group (n=105), and septic shock group (n=69). BLA level was measured before treatment, and the results of BLA re-examination after early fluid resuscitation were collected for children with septic shock and a BLA level of >2 mmol/L.

RESULTS

The BLA level increased with the increasing severity of sepsis. The analysis of the receiver operating characteristic curve showed that the cut-off value of BLA for the diagnosis of septic shock was 2.25 mmol/L, with a sensitivity of 82.6% and a specificity of 79.8%. The fatality rates in the BLA ≤1 mmol/L, BLA 1.1-2 mmol/L, BLA 2.1-4 mmol/L, and BLA >4 mmol/L groups were 8.5%, 9.4%, 27.2%, and 67.6%, respectively, and the risk of death in the BLA >4 mmol/L group was 22.4 times that in the BLA ≤1 mmol/L group. In children with septic shock who had a BLA level of >2 mmol/L before treatment and whose BLA levels were ≤2 mmol/L or >2 mmol/L after resuscitation, the fatality rates were 33.3% and 69.2%, respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

BLA can be used to evaluate disease severity and prognosis in children with sepsis, and a BLA level of 2.25 mmol/L has a high value in diagnosing septic shock. Early resuscitation helps BLA level return to normal and can improve the prognosis of children with septic shock.

"Beat the Shock Clock": An Interprofessional Team Improves Pediatric Septic Shock Care

Ideal care for septic shock (SS) is difficult. This interprofessional quality improvement intervention in a mid-volume pediatric emergency department aimed to reduce time to vascular access, fluid resuscitation, and antibiotics for SS. Intensive education, a care pathway, and an order set were applied. Outcome measures for patients with criteria for SS before and after intervention were compared. There were 43 patients pre-intervention (January 2009 to June 2011) and 63 post-intervention (June 2012 to June 2013). Median time to vascular access decreased from 37 minutes pre-intervention to 24 minutes post-intervention (p = 0.05). Median time to first fluid bolus decreased from 35 to 26 minutes (p = 0.08). Percentage of boluses delivered rapidly by pressure method increased from 21% to 74% (p < 0.0001). Median time to antibiotics decreased from 92 to 55 minutes (p = 0.02). In conclusion, a multimodal, interprofessional quality improvement intervention in a mid-sized pediatric emergency department improved the time to critical interventions for SS.

Probiotics and Synbiotics Decrease Postoperative Sepsis in Elective Gastrointestinal Surgical Patients: a Meta-Analysis

BACKGROUND

The health benefits of probiotics and synbiotics are well established in healthy adults, but their role in preventing postoperative sepsis remains controversial. This meta-analysis assesses the impact of probiotics and synbiotics on the incidence of postoperative sepsis in gastrointestinal (GI) surgical patients.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search of all published randomized control trials (RCTs) was conducted using PubMed, Cochrane Central Registry of Controlled Trials, and Google Scholar (1966-2015). Inclusion criteria included RCTs comparing the use of any strain or dose of a specified probiotic/synbiotic with placebo or a "no treatment" control group. The incidence of postoperative sepsis (within 1 month of surgery) and postoperative mortality were analyzed.

RESULTS

Fifteen RCTs involving 1201 patients (192 receiving probiotics, 413 receiving synbiotics, and 596 receiving placebo) were analyzed. Overall, probiotic and synbiotic uses significantly reduced the risk of developing postoperative sepsis by 38 % (relative risk (RR) = 0.62, 95 % confidence interval (CI) 0.52-0.74, p < 0.001).

CONCLUSIONS

The use of probiotic/synbiotic supplementation is associated with a significant reduction in the risk of developing postoperative sepsis in patients undergoing elective GI surgery. Probiotic/synbiotic supplementation is a valuable adjunct in the care of patients undergoing GI surgery. Additional studies are required to determine the optimal dose and strain of probiotic/synbiotic.

Oxidative-Nitrosative Stress and Myocardial Dysfunctions in Sepsis: Evidence from the Literature and Postmortem Observations

BACKGROUND

Myocardial depression in sepsis is common, and it is associated with higher mortality. In recent years, the hypothesis that the myocardial dysfunction during sepsis could be mediated by ischemia related to decreased coronary blood flow waned and a complex mechanism was invoked to explain cardiac dysfunction in sepsis. Oxidative stress unbalance is thought to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of cardiac impairment in septic patients.

AIM

In this paper, we review the current literature regarding the pathophysiology of cardiac dysfunction in sepsis, focusing on the possible role of oxidative-nitrosative stress unbalance and mitochondria dysfunction. We discuss these mechanisms within the broad scenario of cardiac involvement in sepsis.

CONCLUSIONS

Findings from the current literature broaden our understanding of the role of oxidative and nitrosative stress unbalance in the pathophysiology of cardiac dysfunction in sepsis, thus contributing to the establishment of a relationship between these settings and the occurrence of oxidative stress. The complex pathogenesis of septic cardiac failure may explain why, despite the therapeutic strategies, sepsis remains a big clinical challenge for effectively managing the disease to minimize mortality, leading to consideration of the potential therapeutic effects of antioxidant agents.

Quality of care and resource use among mechanically ventilated patients before and after an intervention to assist nurse-nonvocal patient communication

OBJECTIVES

Implement and test unit-wide patient-nurse assisted communication strategies (SPEACS).

BACKGROUND

SPEACS improved nurse-patient communication outcomes; effects on patient care quality and resource use are unknown.

METHODS

Prospective, randomized stepped-wedge pragmatic trial of 1440 adults ventilated ≥2 days and awake for at least one shift in 6 ICUs at 2 teaching hospitals 2009-2011 with blinded retrospective medical record abstraction.

MAIN RESULTS

323/383 (84%) nurses completed training; their communication knowledge (p < .001) and satisfaction and comfort (p < .001) increased. ICU days with physical restraint use (p = .44), heavy sedation (p = .73), pain score documentation (p = .97), presence of ICU-acquired pressure ulcers (p = .78), coma-free days (p = .76), ventilator-free days (p = .83), ICU length of stay (p = .77), hospital length of stay (p = .22), and median costs (p = .07) did not change.

CONCLUSIONS

SPEACS improved ICU nurses' knowledge, satisfaction and comfort in communicating with nonvocal MV patients but did not impact patient care quality or resource use.

Influence of antibiotic-regimens on intensive-care unit-mortality and liver-cirrhosis as risk factor

AIM: To assess the rate of infection, appropriateness of antimicrobial-therapy and mortality on intensive care unit (ICU). Special focus was drawn on patients with liver cirrhosis.

METHODS: The study was approved by the local ethical committee. All patients admitted to the Internal Medicine-ICU between April 1, 2007 and December 31, 2009 were included. Data were extracted retrospectively from all patients using patient charts and electronic documentations on infection, microbiological laboratory reports, diagnosis and therapy. Due to the large hepatology department and liver transplantation center, special interest was on the subgroup of patients with liver cirrhosis. The primary statistical-endpoint was the evaluation of the influence of appropriate versus inappropriate antimicrobial-therapy on in-hospital-mortality.

RESULTS: Charts of 1979 patients were available. The overall infection-rate was 53%. Multiresistant-bacteria were present in 23% of patients with infection and were associated with increased mortality (P < 0.000001). Patients with infection had significantly increased in-hospital-mortality (34% vs 17%, P < 0.000001). Only 9% of patients with infection received inappropriate initial antimicrobial-therapy, no influence on mortality was observed. Independent risk-factors for in-hospital-mortality were the presence of septic-shock, prior chemotherapy for malignoma and infection with Pseudomonas spp. Infection and mortality-rate among 175 patients with liver-cirrhosis was significantly higher than in patients without liver-cirrhosis. Infection increased mortality 2.24-fold in patients with cirrhosis. Patients with liver cirrhosis were at an increased risk to receive inappropriate initial antimicrobial therapy.

CONCLUSION: The results of the present study report the successful implementation of early-goal-directed therapy. Liver cirrhosis patients are at increased risk of infection, mortality and to receive inappropriate therapy. Increasing burden are multiresistant-bacteria.

Prognostic impact of left ventricular diastolic function in patients with septic shock

Background

Left ventricular (LV) diastolic dysfunction is highly prevalent in the general population and associated with a significant morbidity and mortality. Its prognostic role in patients sustaining septic shock in the intensive care unit (ICU) remains controversial. Accordingly, we investigated whether LV diastolic function was independently associated with ICU mortality in a cohort of septic shock patients assessed using critical care echocardiography.

Methods

Over a 5-year period, patients hospitalized in a Medical–Surgical ICU who underwent an echocardiographic assessment with digitally stored images during the initial management of a septic shock were included in this retrospective single-center study. Off-line echocardiographic measurements were independently performed by an expert in critical care echocardiography who was unaware of patients’ outcome. LV diastolic dysfunction was defined by the presence of a lateral E′ maximal velocity <10 cm/s. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine independent risk factors associated with ICU mortality.

Results

Among the 540 patients hospitalized in the ICU with septic shock during the study period, 223 were studied (140 men [63 %]; age 64 ± 13 years; SAPS II 55 ± 18; SOFA 10 ± 3; Charlson 3.5 ± 2.5) and 204 of them (91 %) were mechanically ventilated. ICU mortality was 35 %. LV diastolic dysfunction was observed in 31 % of patients. The proportion of LV diastolic dysfunction tended to be higher in non-survivors than in their counterparts (28/78 [36 %] vs. 41/145 [28 %]: p = 0.15). Inappropriate initial antibiotic therapy (OR 4.17 [CI 95 % 1.33–12.5]: p = 0.03), maximal dose of vasopressors (OR 1.38 [CI 95 % 1.16–1.63]: p = 0.01), SOFA score (OR 1.16 [CI 95 % 1.02–1.32]: p = 0.02) and lateral E′ maximal velocity (OR 1.12 [CI 95 % 1.01–1.24]: p = 0.02) were independently associated with ICU mortality. After adjusting for the SAPS II score, inappropriate initial antibiotic therapy and maximal dose of vasopressors remained independent factors for ICU mortality, whereas a trend was only observed for lateral E′ maximal velocity (OR 1.11 [CI 95 % 0.99–1.23]: p = 0.07).

Conclusion

The present study suggests that LV diastolic function might be associated with ICU mortality in patients with septic shock. A multicenter prospective study assessing a large cohort of patients using serial echocardiographic examinations remains required to confirm the prognostic value of LV diastolic dysfunction in septic shock.

Effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells on the cardiac function and immune system of mice with endotoxemia

The present study aimed to investigate the effects of bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) on the cardiac function and immune system of mice with endotoxemia. The mice were divided into the following groups: Control group, endotoxemia group, lipopolysaccharide (LPS) treatment group, LPS and MSC treatment group (LPS + MSC group) and MSC group. Following treatment with LPS, the cardiac function of the mice was examined at after 2, 6 and 24 h, and on day 7. An enzyme‑linked immunofluorescent assay was used to analyze the serum and the levels of cytokines in the myocardium, and western blotting was used to investigate any changes in the levels of signaling proteins associated with the myocardium. A 3‑(4,5‑dimethyl‑2‑thiazolyl)‑2,5‑diphenyl‑2H‑tetrazolium bromide assay was used to investigate the growth rate of the splenic cells at after 24 h and on day 7, and the humoral immune function and phagocytosis of the macrophages in the mice were also examined. The cardiac function of the mice with endotoxemia declined, although this impairment was circumvented following treatment with MSCs. The levels of interleukin (IL)‑1β, IL‑6, tumor necrosis factor‑α and IL‑10 in the serum and the myocardium increased following stimulation by LPS, although these declined as a result of MSC treatment. The expression levels of Toll‑like receptor 4, p65‑nuclear factor‑κB and phosphorylated p38 in the mouse myocardium were enhanced following stimulation by LPS, which subsequently decreased as a result of MSC treatment. Compared with the control group, the growth rate of the splenic cells, humoral immune function and the level of phagocytosis of macrophages were all increased, although these parameters declined following treatment with MSCs. Taken together, the present study revealed that the MSCs inhibited the inflammatory reaction in the mice with endotoxemia, and improved cardiac function. By contrast, the cellular and humoral immunity were depressed, and phagocytosis of the macrophages, which were enhanced following simulation with LPS, were decreased following treatment with MSCs. However, no overexpression of the anti‑inflammatory factor, IL‑10, was observed. The present study hypothesized that MSCs exert a bifunctional role in endotoxemia, by inhibiting inflammatory factors, including IL‑1 and IL‑6, and inhibiting the compensatory expression of IL‑10 following LPS stimulation. This avoids the possibility of excessive inhibition of immunological function, as this results in immunosuppression, and a higher ratio of IL‑10 to TNF‑α is indicative of a poor prognosis in patients with sepsis.