A review of progress from clinical needs to polymeric materials for sepsis blood purification

Sepsis is a life-threatening organ dysfunction syndrome triggered by infection, characterized by high morbidity, mortality, and poor prognosis, and has emerged as a major challenge in public health and critical care medicine. The clinical management of sepsis is hindered by the inability of conventional therapies to effectively remove pathogenic mediators, making blood purification an important adjunctive strategy. However, the performance of blood purification materials must directly address specific clinical requirements, including high adsorption capacity, rapid kinetics, selectivity, and biocompatibility. This review adopts a "from clinical needs to materials solutions" framework. The clinical consensus and controversies surrounding blood purification in sepsis are analyzed first, and the key performance requirements for blood purification materials are summarized. Then, it comprehensively outlines the design principles, structure-property relationships, and clinical performance of both commercial products and emerging laboratory-stage materials, with emphasis on how polymer chemistry and engineering address clinical challenges. Additionally, the benefits and limitations of blood purification are evaluated, and prospects for the future directions for the development of blood purification materials are discussed. This review aims to provide a systematic reference for clinical practice and academic research, and promote the precise and standardized application of blood purification therapy for sepsis.