Sepsis Management in Southeast Asia: A Review and Clinical Experience

Efficacy of Adjunct Hemoperfusion Compared to Standard Medical Therapy on 28-Day Mortality in Leptospirosis Patients with Renal Failure and Shock: A Single-Center Randomized Controlled Trial

Hemoperfusion is a novel adjunct therapy that targets the dysregulated inflammatory events in severe sepsis. Previous studies have reported conflicting results on its efficacy and safety. This study was designed to assess the efficacy and safety of hemoperfusion among leptospirosis patients in septic shock and renal failure in terms of improvement in 28-day mortality, SOFA score, level of inflammatory markers, hemodynamics, and renal and pulmonary function. A total of 37 severe leptospirosis patients were enrolled and randomized into either standard medical therapy (SMT) alone, n = 20, or with hemoperfusion (HP), n = 17. Vital signs, urine output, vasopressor dose, PaO2/FiO2 (P/F) ratio, and biochemical parameters of patients from each treatment arm were compared. The hemoperfusion group showed a 36.84% (p = 0.017) risk reduction in 28-day mortality. Levels of procalcitonin, IL6, and lactate significantly decreased from baseline to day 7 in both groups. Statistically significant improvements in serum creatinine (p = 0.04) and PF ratio (p = 0.045) were observed in the hemoperfusion cohort. Intention-to-treat and per-protocol approaches showed that hemoperfusion increased the survival rate and decreased the mortality risk. This benefit for survival persisted even when patients were also receiving extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), showing that hemoperfusion's benefits are independent of ECMO use. Hemoperfusion is a safe and effective adjunct therapy for managing severe sepsis. It promotes earlier renal and pulmonary function recovery and improves the survival of septic shock patients.

The burden and contemporary epidemiology of sepsis in children

Sepsis is a dysregulated host response to infection that leads to life-threatening organ dysfunction. Half of the 50 million people affected by sepsis globally every year are neonates and children younger than 19 years. This burden on the paediatric population translates into a disproportionate impact on global child health in terms of years of life lost, morbidity, and lost opportunities for children to reach their developmental potential. This Series on paediatric sepsis presents the current state of diagnosis and treatment of sepsis in children, and maps the challenges in alleviating the burden on children, their families, and society. Drawing on diverse experience and multidisciplinary expertise, we offer a roadmap to improving outcomes for children with sepsis. This first paper of the Series is a narrative review of the burden of paediatric sepsis from low-income to high-income settings. Advances towards improved operationalisation of paediatric sepsis across all age groups have facilitated more standardised assessment of the Global Burden of Disease estimates of the impact of sepsis on child health, and these estimates are expected to gain further precision with the roll out of the new Phoenix criteria for sepsis. Sepsis remains one of the leading causes of childhood morbidity and mortality, with immense direct and indirect societal costs. Although substantial regional differences persist in relation to incidence, microbiological epidemiology, and outcomes, these cannot be explained by differences in income level alone. Recent insights into post-discharge sequelae after paediatric sepsis, ranging from late mortality and persistent neurodevelopmental impairment to reduced health-related quality of life, show how common post-sepsis syndrome is in children. Targeting sepsis as a key contributor to poor health outcomes in children is therefore an essential component of efforts to meet the Sustainable Development Goals.

Systematic review with expert consensus on use of extracorporeal hemoadsorption in septic shock: An Indian perspective

BACKGROUND

Septic shock is a severe form of sepsis characterised by deterioration in circulatory and cellular-metabolic parameters. Despite standard therapy, the outcomes are poor. Newer adjuvant therapy, such as CytoSorb® extracorporeal haemoadsorption device, has been investigated and shown promising outcome. However, there is a lack of some guidance to make clinical decisions on the use of CytoSorb® haemoadsorption as an adjuvant therapy in septic shock in Indian Setting. Therefore, this expert consensus was formulated.

AIM

To formulate/establish specific consensus statements on the use of CytoSorb® haemoadsorption treatment based on the best available evidence and contextualised to the Indian scenario.

METHODS

We performed a comprehensive literature on CytoSorb® haemoadsorption in sepsis, septic shock in PubMed selecting papers published between January 2011 and March 2023 2021 in English language. The statements for a consensus document were developed based on the summarised literature analysis and identification of knowledge gaps. Using a modified Delphi approach combining evidence appraisal and expert opinion, the following topics related to CytoSorb® in septic shock were addressed: need for adjuvant therapy, initiation timeline, need for Interleukin -6 levels, duration of therapy, change of adsorbers, safety, prerequisite condition, efficacy endpoints and management flowchart. Eleven expert members from critical care, emergency medicine, and the intensive care participated and voted on nine statements and one open-ended question.

RESULTS

Eleven expert members from critical care, emergency medicine, and the intensive care participated and voted on nine statements and one open-ended question. All 11 experts in the consensus group (100%) participated in the first, second and third round of voting. After three iterative voting rounds and adapting two statements, consensus was achieved on nine statements out of nine statements. The consensus expert panel also recognised the necessity to form an association or society that can keep a registry regarding the use of CytoSorb® for all indications in the open-ended question (Q10) focusing on "future recommendations for CytoSorb® therapy".

CONCLUSION

This Indian perspective consensus statement supports and provides guidance on the use of CytoSorb® haemoadsorption as an adjuvant treatment in patients with septic shock to achieve optimal outcomes.

Study on Assessing Serum Lactate as an Early Prognostic Determinant in Sepsis Outcome

BACKGROUND

Apart from being one of the main causes of death, sepsis has recently been considered a chronic critical illness. This has resulted in the implementation of standard treatment recommendations for management, with a focus on the initial phases of treatment. Early detection of sepsis and prognostic grading are now crucial for management. Despite the fact that sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA), acute physiology, and chronic health evaluation II score (APACHE II) have been widely used in sepsis, there have been shortcomings such as feasibility and many lab parameters involved. As a result, this study was conducted to evaluate the role of serum lactate as an early marker and to compare it to current scoring systems for determining the outcome of sepsis.

METHODS AND MATERIAL

This was an observational hospital-based study with 60 individuals recruited over a one-year period from July 2021 to June 2022. Serum lactate, as well as the other laboratory tests required for the computation of SOFA and APACHE II, were performed. The baseline data and the trend of lactate vs standard scores were examined in the first 48 hours, as well as their impact on outcomes in sepsis patients (as measured by mortality rates- patients were followed up for 28 days). The diagnostic accuracy of these scores was calculated using the area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUROC).

RESULTS

The study enrolled 60 people out of a total of 162 people who were screened. The mean age was 48.4 years, with the highest mortality occurring between the ages of 41 and 60 years. Of the total 60 participants, 34 (56.6%) were male, with the respiratory tract being the most common source of infection for sepsis (36.67%). In our study, 46 patients survived while 14 patients died. The mean lactate on admission was 3.1 mmol/L in survivors and 4 mmol/L in non-survivors, whereas APACHE II was 9 and 12.36, and SOFA was 3.63 and 7.79, respectively, in survivors and non-survivors. Serum lactate and prognosis scores were compared in the survivor and non-survivor groups, and the difference in diagnostic accuracy was found to be statistically significant.

CONCLUSIONS

Serum lactate can be used as an early recognition marker in patients with a probability of sepsis and serial lactate monitoring has a similar diagnostic accuracy in predicting outcomes as the traditional prognostic scoring systems SOFA and APACHE II.

Increase in Incidence Rates and Risk Factors for Multidrug Resistant Bacteria in Septic Children: A Nationwide Spanish Cohort Study (2013-2019)

The emergence of multidrug-resistant (MDR) bacteria in children is a growing concern, particularly among septic patients, given the need for first-right dosing. Our aim was to determine the incidence rates and factors associated with MDR-sepsis in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), using data from the Spanish ENVIN-HELICS PICU registry between 2013 and 2019. The rate of MDR bacteria among septic children ranged between 5.8 and 16.2% throughout this study period, with a significant increase since 2015 (p = 0.013). MDR-gram-negative bacteria (92%), particularly EBL-Enterobacterales (63.7%), were the most frequent causative microorganisms of MDR-sepsis. During this study period, sixteen MDR-sepsis (32.6%) corresponded to intrahospital infections, and 33 (67.4%) had community-onset sepsis, accounting for 10.5% of the overall community-onset sepsis. Independent risk factors associated with MDR-sepsis were antibiotics 48 h prior to PICU admission (OR 2.38) and PICU onset of sepsis (OR 2.58) in >1 year-old children, and previous malnourishment (OR 4.99) in <1 year-old children. Conclusions: There was an alarming increase in MDR among septic children in Spain, mainly by gram-negative (ESBL-Enterobacterales), mostly coming from the community setting. Malnourished infants and children on antibiotics 48 h prior to PICU are at increased risk and therefore require closer surveillance.

Vancomycin efficiency and safety of a dosage of 40–60 mg/kg/d and corresponding trough concentrations in children with Gram-positive bacterial sepsis

Background

Optimal vancomycin trough concentrations and dosages remain controversial in sepsis children. We aim to investigate vancomycin treatment outcomes with a dosage of 40-60 mg/kg/d and corresponding trough concentrations in children with Gram-positive bacterial sepsis from a clinical perspective.

Methods

Children diagnosed with Gram-positive bacterial sepsis and received intravenous vancomycin therapy between January 2017 and June 2020 were enrolled retrospectively. Patients were categorized as success and failure groups according to treatment outcomes. Laboratory, microbiological, and clinical data were collected. The risk factors for treatment failure were analyzed by logistic regression.

Results

In total, 186 children were included, of whom 167 (89.8%) were enrolled in the success group and 19 (10.2%) in the failure group. The initial and mean vancomycin daily doses in failure group were significantly higher than those in success group [56.9 (IQR =42.1-60.0) vs. 40.5 (IQR =40.0-57.1), P=0.016; 57.0 (IQR =45.8-60.0) vs. 50.0 (IQR =40.0-57.6) mg/kg/d, P=0.012, respectively] and median vancomycin trough concentrations were similar between two groups [6.9 (4.0-12.1) vs.7.3 (4.5-10.6) mg/L, P=0.568)]. Moreover, there was no significant differences in treatment success rate between vancomycin trough concentrations ≤15 mg/L and &gt;15 mg/L (91.2% vs. 75.0%, P=0.064). No vancomycin-related nephrotoxicity adverse effects occurred among all enrolled patients. Multivariate analysis revealed that a PRISM III score ≥10 (OR =15.011; 95% CI: 3.937-57.230; P&lt;0.001) was the only independent clinical factor associated with increased incidence of treatment failure.

Conclusions

Vancomycin dosages of 40-60 mg/kg/d are effective and have no vancomycin-related nephrotoxicity adverse effects in children with Gram-positive bacterial sepsis. Vancomycin trough concentrations &gt;15 mg/L are not an essential target for these Gram-positive bacterial sepsis patients. PRISM III scores ≥10 may serve as an independent risk factor for vancomycin treatment failure in these patients.

Fast Track Diagnostic Tools for Clinical Management of Sepsis: Paradigm Shift from Conventional to Advanced Methods

Sepsis is one of the deadliest disorders in the new century due to specific limitations in early and differential diagnosis. Moreover, antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is becoming the dominant threat to human health globally. The only way to encounter the spread and emergence of AMR is through the active detection and identification of the pathogen along with the quantification of resistance. For better management of such disease, there is an essential requirement to approach many suitable diagnostic techniques for the proper administration of antibiotics and elimination of these infectious diseases. The current method employed for the diagnosis of sepsis relies on the conventional culture of blood suspected infection. However, this method is more time consuming and generates results that are false negative in the case of antibiotic pretreated samples as well as slow-growing microbes. In comparison to the conventional method, modern methods are capable of analyzing blood samples, obtaining accurate results from the suspicious patient of sepsis, and giving all the necessary information to identify the pathogens as well as AMR in a short period. The present review is intended to highlight the culture shift from conventional to modern and advanced technologies including their limitations for the proper and prompt diagnosing of bloodstream infections and AMR detection.