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Sepsis and its complications: the clinical problem
1Medical College of Ohio, Toledo.
Critical Care Medicine
|July 1, 1994
Summary
Defining sepsis and its complications remains challenging. Clinical characteristics combined with severity assessments are crucial for defining patient status and guiding treatment for sepsis and related syndromes.
Area of Science:
- Critical Care Medicine
- Immunology
- Pathophysiology
Background:
- Sepsis and its complications, including septic shock, adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), present significant diagnostic and therapeutic challenges.
- The precise definition of sepsis and its sequelae has evolved, impacting clinical trial patient identification and treatment strategies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review the difficulties in defining sepsis and its complications.
- To characterize the role of proinflammatory cytokines in the development of human septic shock, ARDS, and SIRS.
Main Methods:
- Review of information presented at the 22nd Educational and Scientific Symposium of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
- Inclusion of supportive English language literature.
- Focus on human studies defining sepsis and related entities, specifically examining the role of cytokines in septic shock.
Main Results:
- Integration of information on the evolution of sepsis definitions with considerations for patient identification in clinical trials.
- Data synthesis highlights the complexity of sepsis and its sequelae.
Conclusions:
- Sepsis and its complications represent a complex biological cascade definable by specific clinical characteristics.
- Clinical variability necessitates definitions combining clinical endpoints with severity of illness assessments for optimal patient status definition, clinical course prediction, and treatment guidance.