sepsis
Sign in to saveSepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's dysregulated response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
AI overview
Sepsis is a serious medical emergency that occurs when the body's immune system overreacts to an infection and starts damaging its own tissues and organs instead of just fighting off germs. It matters because this condition can quickly become life-threatening if not treated promptly.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Key facts
- Medical condition (new).prognosis
- Mortality: sepsis ~30%, severe sepsis ~50%, septic shock ~80%. The mortality may be lower if treated aggressively and early, depending on the organism and disease, the patient's previous health, and the abilities of the treatment location and its staff.
- Medical condition (new).frequency
- In 2017, there were 48.9 million cases and 11 million sepsis-related deaths worldwide (according to WHO)
- Medical condition (new).name
- Sepsis
- Medical condition (new).image
- sepsis-Mikrothomben1.JPG
- Medical condition (new).caption
- Skin blotching and inflammation caused by sepsis
- Medical condition (new).field
- infectious disease, critical care medicine, emergency medicine
- Medical condition (new).onset
- May be rapid (less than three hours) or prolonged (several days)
- Medical condition (new).causes
- Immune response triggered by an infection
- Medical condition (new).diagnosis
- Systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), qSOFA
- Medical condition (new).prevention
Article
33 sectionsContents
- Signs and symptoms
- Cause
- Pathophysiology
- Microbial factors
- Host factors
- Diagnosis
- Definitions
- End-organ dysfunction
- Biomarkers
- Differential diagnosis
- Neonatal sepsis
- Treatment
- Antibiotics
- Intravenous fluids
- Blood products
- Vasopressors
- Steroids
- Anesthesia
- Source control
- Early goal-directed therapy
- Newborns
- Other
- Prognosis
- Epidemiology
- History
- Society and culture
- Economics
- Education
- Awareness
- Research
- See also
- References
- External links
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition that arises when the body's dysregulated response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs.
This initial stage of sepsis is followed by dysregulation of the immune system. Common signs and symptoms include fever, increased heart rate, increased breathing rate, and confusion. There may also be symptoms related to a specific infection, such as a cough with pneumonia, or painful urination with a kidney infection. The very young, old, and people with a weakened immune system may not have any symptoms specific to their infection, and their body temperature may be low or normal instead of constituting a fever. Severe sepsis may cause organ dysfunction and significantly reduced blood flow. The presence of low blood pressure, high blood lactate, or low urine output may suggest poor blood flow. Septic shock is low blood pressure due to sepsis that does not improve after fluid replacement or requires medications to raise the blood pressure.