[International guidelines of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign : update 2012]

An update of the international guidelines for therapy of sepsis was published in February 2012 by the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC). The update includes a further development of the guidelines from 2004 and 2008. The guidelines are divided into three sections, sepsis-specific therapeutic measures, recommendations on general intensive care measures for sepsis and finally special features of sepsis in pediatric intensive care medicine are presented in detail. This article discusses the most important amendments in the first two sections and delving deeper into the guidelines.