Sepsis

Course overview

Sepsis is attributed to one of the highest mortality and morbidity statistics in today's health care. Sepsis affects more than 650,000 patients each year. The reported mortality rates are very widespread, 20-70%. Although death certificate reports indicate that sepsis is responsible for 6% of all deaths, administrative claims data suggest higher rates. As treatment modalities improve and patients survive sepsis, a growing concern is the increasing rate of readmissions for some patients. It is estimated that readmissions, directly related to the outcomes of an initial sepsis episode, is becoming greater in numbers than COPD, heart failure, heart attack and pneumonia. Urinary tract infections have also been linked with readmissions. The potential reason for the phenomena may be related to the morbidity that developed from the initial insult. Long-term prognosis for patients who survive sepsis demonstrates an increased risk of death and further sepsis episodes within the first 6 months but the risk remains elevated for 2 years.