Patient Safety Zone

Sepsis is a potentially life threatening condition that is triggered by an infection. The body's immune system goes into overdriven setting of a series of reactions, including inflammation and blood clotting. This can lead to a significant decrease in blood pressure, which can mean that blood supply to vital organs is reduced (1). In lay terms, the body's response to infection injures its own tissue and organs (2).

Symptoms of sepsis may include fever or chills, elevated heart rate, and rapid breathing (1,3,4). Other symptoms can include severe muscle pain, slurred speech, pale or mottled skin, and confusion or disorientation (4,5).

Definitions around sepsis are evolving (6), however, the following have currently acheived consensus (2,7,8):

"Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection." (2).

"Sepsis shock is a subset of sepsis in which circulatory and cellular/metabolic abnormalities are profound enough to substantially increase mortality." (2)

In the UK, it is currently estimated that there are 150,000 cases of sepsis every year, and over 40,000 of these are severe cases (9).

Finally, a range of other resources which are aimed at preventing, reducing and managing infection are also presented:

References

1. NHS Choices, (2016). Sepsis. Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/Conditions/Blood-poisoning/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Accessed 01 December August 2016].

2. Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, Shankar-Hari M, Annane D, Bauer M, et al., (2016). The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3). JAMA, 315(8):801–10. Available from: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?doi=10.1001/jama.2016.0287 [Accessed 26 August 2016].

3. McClelland H, Moxon A., (2014). Early identification and treatment of sepsis. Nursing Times, 110(4):14–7. Available from: http://www.nursingtimes.net/nursing-practice/specialisms/infection-control/early-identification-and-treatment-of-sepsis/5067163.article

4. National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, (2016). Sepsis: recognition, diagnosis and early management: NICE guideline. Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/NG51 [Accessed 13 July 2016].

5. NHS Choices, (2015). Septic shock. Available from: http://www.nhs.uk/conditions/septic-shock/Pages/Introduction.aspx [Accessed 26 August 2016].

6. Abraham E. (2016). New definitions for sepsis and septic shock: Continuing evolution but with much still to be done. JAMA, 315(8):757–9.

7. Singer M, Deutschman CS, Seymour CW, Shankar-Hari M, Annane D, Bauer M, et al., (2016). Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (video). Available from: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/multimediaPlayer.aspx?mediaid=12511362 [Accessed 26 August 2016].

8. JAMA Network, (2016). Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock. Available from: http://sites.jamanetwork.com/sepsis/ [Accessed 26 August 2016].

9. NICE, (2016). Sepsis is just as urgent as heart attack, says NICE . Available from: https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/sepsis-is-just-as-urgent-as-heart-attack-says-nice[Accessed 26 August 2016].

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Further Reading

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McCelland, H. & Moxon, A. Early identification and treatment of sepsis . Nursing Times, 2014. 110(4): 14-17.

Fitzpatrick, D.  McKenna, M.  Rooney, K.  Beckett, D.  Pringle, N. Improving the management and care of people with sepsis . Emergency Nurse, 2014. 22(1): 18-24.