Sepsis is a dysregulated immune response to an infection that leads to organ dysfunction. Knowledge of the pathophysiology of organ failure in sepsis is crucial for optimizing the management and ...treatment of patients and for the development of potential new therapies. In clinical practice, six major organ systems - the cardiovascular (including the microcirculation), respiratory, renal, neurological, haematological and hepatic systems - can be assessed and monitored, whereas others, such as the gut, are less accessible. Over the past 2 decades, considerable amounts of new data have helped improve our understanding of sepsis pathophysiology, including the regulation of inflammatory pathways and the role played by immune suppression during sepsis. The effects of impaired cellular function, including mitochondrial dysfunction and altered cell death mechanisms, on the development of organ dysfunction are also being unravelled. Insights have been gained into interactions between key organs (such as the kidneys and the gut) and organ-organ crosstalk during sepsis. The important role of the microcirculation in sepsis is increasingly apparent, and new techniques have been developed that make it possible to visualize the microcirculation at the bedside, although these techniques are only research tools at present.
Circulatory Shock Vincent, Jean-Louis; De Backer, Daniel
The New England journal of medicine,
10/2013, Volume:
369, Issue:
18
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Circulatory shock is present when physical signs and changes in laboratory values suggest tissue hypoperfusion. This article in the Critical Care Medicine series reviews the diagnosis and treatment ...of various forms of shock.
Shock is the clinical expression of circulatory failure that results in inadequate cellular oxygen utilization. Shock is a common condition in critical care, affecting about one third of patients in the intensive care unit (ICU).
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A diagnosis of shock is based on clinical, hemodynamic, and biochemical signs, which can broadly be summarized into three components. First, systemic arterial hypotension is usually present, but the magnitude of the hypotension may be only moderate, especially in patients with chronic hypertension. Typically, in adults, the systolic arterial pressure is less than 90 mm Hg or the mean arterial pressure is less than 70 . . .
Biomarkers of sepsis: time for a reappraisal Pierrakos, Charalampos; Velissaris, Dimitrios; Bisdorff, Max ...
Critical care (London, England),
06/2020, Volume:
24, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Sepsis biomarkers can have important diagnostic, therapeutic, and prognostic functions. In a previous review, we identified 3370 references reporting on 178 different biomarkers related to sepsis. In ...the present review, we evaluate the progress in the research of sepsis biomarkers.
Using the same methodology as in our previous review, we searched the PubMed database from 2009 until September 2019 using the terms "Biomarker" AND "Sepsis." There were no restrictions by age or language, and all studies, clinical and experimental, were included.
We retrieved a total of 5367 new references since our previous review. We identified 258 biomarkers, 80 of which were new compared to our previous list. The majority of biomarkers have been evaluated in fewer than 5 studies, with 81 (31%) being assessed in just a single study. Apart from studies of C-reactive protein (CRP) or procalcitonin (PCT), only 26 biomarkers have been assessed in clinical studies with more than 300 participants. Forty biomarkers have been compared to PCT and/or CRP for their diagnostic value; 9 were shown to have a better diagnostic value for sepsis than either or both of these biomarkers. Forty-four biomarkers have been evaluated for a role in answering a specific clinical question rather than for their general diagnostic or prognostic properties in sepsis.
The number of biomarkers being identified is still increasing although at a slower rate than in the past. Most of the biomarkers have not been well-studied; in particular, the clinical role of these biomarkers needs to be better evaluated.
Severe traumatic injury continues to present challenges to healthcare systems around the world, and post-traumatic bleeding remains a leading cause of potentially preventable death among injured ...patients. Now in its fifth edition, this document aims to provide guidance on the management of major bleeding and coagulopathy following traumatic injury and encourages adaptation of the guiding principles described here to individual institutional circumstances and resources.
The pan-European, multidisciplinary Task Force for Advanced Bleeding Care in Trauma was founded in 2004, and the current author group included representatives of six relevant European professional societies. The group applied a structured, evidence-based consensus approach to address scientific queries that served as the basis for each recommendation and supporting rationale. Expert opinion and current clinical practice were also considered, particularly in areas in which randomised clinical trials have not or cannot be performed. Existing recommendations were re-examined and revised based on scientific evidence that has emerged since the previous edition and observed shifts in clinical practice. New recommendations were formulated to reflect current clinical concerns and areas in which new research data have been generated.
Advances in our understanding of the pathophysiology of post-traumatic coagulopathy have supported improved management strategies, including evidence that early, individualised goal-directed treatment improves the outcome of severely injured patients. The overall organisation of the current guideline has been designed to reflect the clinical decision-making process along the patient pathway in an approximate temporal sequence. Recommendations are grouped behind the rationale for key decision points, which are patient- or problem-oriented rather than related to specific treatment modalities. While these recommendations provide guidance for the diagnosis and treatment of major bleeding and coagulopathy, emerging evidence supports the author group's belief that the greatest outcome improvement can be achieved through education and the establishment of and adherence to local clinical management algorithms.
A multidisciplinary approach and adherence to evidence-based guidance are key to improving patient outcomes. If incorporated into local practice, these clinical practice guidelines have the potential to ensure a uniform standard of care across Europe and beyond and better outcomes for the severely bleeding trauma patient.
Septic shock is the most severe form of sepsis, in which profound underlying abnormalities in circulatory and cellular/metabolic parameters lead to substantially increased mortality. A clear ...understanding and up-to-date assessment of the burden and epidemiology of septic shock are needed to help guide resource allocation and thus ultimately improve patient care. The aim of this systematic review and meta-analysis was therefore to provide a recent evaluation of the frequency of septic shock in intensive care units (ICUs) and associated ICU and hospital mortality.
We searched MEDLINE, Embase, and the Cochrane Library from 1 January 2005 to 20 February 2018 for observational studies that reported on the frequency and mortality of septic shock. Four reviewers independently selected studies and extracted data. Disagreements were resolved via consensus. Random effects meta-analyses were performed to estimate pooled frequency of septic shock diagnosed at admission and during the ICU stay and to estimate septic shock mortality in the ICU, hospital, and at 28 or 30 days.
The literature search identified 6291 records of which 71 articles met the inclusion criteria. The frequency of septic shock was estimated at 10.4% (95% CI 5.9 to 16.1%) in studies reporting values for patients diagnosed at ICU admission and at 8.3% (95% CI 6.1 to 10.7%) in studies reporting values for patients diagnosed at any time during the ICU stay. ICU mortality was 37.3% (95% CI 31.5 to 43.5%), hospital mortality 39.0% (95% CI 34.4 to 43.9%), and 28-/30-day mortality 36.7% (95% CI 32.8 to 40.8%). Significant between-study heterogeneity was observed.
Our literature review reaffirms the continued common occurrence of septic shock and estimates a high mortality of around 38%. The high level of heterogeneity observed in this review may be driven by variability in defining and applying the diagnostic criteria, as well as differences in treatment and care across settings and countries.
Intravenous fluid administration is an essential component of sepsis management, but a positive fluid balance has been associated with worse prognosis. We analyzed whether a positive fluid balance ...and its persistence over time was an independent prognostic factor in septic patients.
We prospectively studied fluid intake and output for 7 days in 173 consecutive adult patients treated for sepsis in our Department of Intensive Care.
Of the 173 patients, 59 died (34 %). Mean daily fluid intake was higher in non-survivors than in survivors (59 ± 24 ml/kg vs. 48 ± 23 ml/kg, p = 0.03), but output volumes were similar. As a result, the daily fluid balance was more than twice as large in the non-survivors as in the survivors (29 ± 22 vs. 13 ± 19 ml/kg, p <0.001). Persistence of a positive fluid balance over time was associated with increased mortality. Using a multivariable time-dependent Cox model, a positive fluid balance was independently associated with higher mortality (adjusted hazard ratio 1.014 1.007-1.022 per ml/kg increase, p <0.001).
Persistence of a positive daily fluid balance over time was quite strongly associated with a higher mortality rate in septic patients.
Fluid management in the critically ill Vincent, Jean-Louis
Kidney international,
July 2019, 2019-Jul, 2019-07-00, 20190701, Volume:
96, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Fluid therapy, which is provided to restore and maintain tissue perfusion, is part of routine management for almost all critically ill patients. However, because either too much or too little fluid ...can have a negative impact on patient outcomes, fluid administration must be titrated carefully for each patient. The “salvage, optimization, stabilization, de-escalation” (SOSD) mnemonic should be used as a general guide to fluid resuscitation, and fluid administration should be adapted according to the course of the disease. In the initial salvage phase, lifesaving fluid should be administered generously. Once hemodynamic monitoring is available, fluid administration should be optimized by determining the patient’s fluid status and the need for further fluid. This determination can be difficult, however; clinical indicators of hypovolemia, such as heart rate, blood pressure, and urine output, may not detect early hypovolemia, and edema is a late sign of fluid overload. Dynamic tests of fluid responsiveness such as pulse pressure or stroke volume variation can be used in only a small percentage of critically ill patients, and thus a fluid challenge technique is most frequently used to assess ongoing fluid requirements. Once a patient has been stabilized, efforts should start to concentrate on removing excess fluid. Which fluid should be used remains a matter of some debate. Crystalloid solutions are cheaper than colloid solutions, but colloid solutions remain in the intravascular space for a longer period, making edema less likely. Thus crystalloids and colloids should be used together, especially in patients likely to require large fluid volumes. Human albumin is a natural colloid and may have beneficial effects in patients with sepsis in addition to its volume effects. Fluids should be prescribed as are other medications, taking into account individual patient factors, disease processes, and other treatments.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UILJ, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZAGLJ, ZRSKP
10.
Effective hemodynamic monitoring Pinsky, Michael R.; Cecconi, Maurizio; Chew, Michelle S. ...
Critical care (London, England),
09/2022, Volume:
26, Issue:
1
Journal Article
Peer reviewed
Open access
Hemodynamic monitoring is the centerpiece of patient monitoring in acute care settings. Its effectiveness in terms of improved patient outcomes is difficult to quantify. This review focused on ...effectiveness of monitoring-linked resuscitation strategies from: (1) process-specific monitoring that allows for non-specific prevention of new onset cardiovascular insufficiency (CVI) in perioperative care. Such goal-directed therapy is associated with decreased perioperative complications and length of stay in high-risk surgery patients. (2) Patient-specific personalized resuscitation approaches for CVI. These approaches including dynamic measures to define volume responsiveness and vasomotor tone, limiting less fluid administration and vasopressor duration, reduced length of care. (3) Hemodynamic monitoring to predict future CVI using machine learning approaches. These approaches presently focus on predicting hypotension. Future clinical trials assessing hemodynamic monitoring need to focus on process-specific monitoring based on modifying therapeutic interventions known to improve patient-centered outcomes.
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