Open AccessTowards ‘Sepsis with Optimal Treatment’: Evaluating the sepsis care pathway in Acute Medicine and identifying scope for systems improvement
Author(s) -
Joel Meyer,
Zoë Fritz,
Hayley J. Burton,
Catherine S Ward,
Andrea Simpson,
C. M. Sabbir Ahmed
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
acute medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1747-4892
pISSN - 1747-4884
DOI - 10.52964/amja.0272
Subject(s) - medicine , sepsis , scope (computer science) , intensive care medicine , acute medicine , precision medicine , computer science , pathology , programming language
Sepsis commonly presents to the acute medicine unit (AMU). Timely recognition and treatment can reduce the significant associated mortality, but United Kingdom AMUs and emergency departments are often inadequately equipped to manage sepsis with early-goal directed therapy. We conducted an observational study of 50 consecutive patients admitted with severe sepsis. Demographic, physiological and microbiological data, and information about the provision and timing of care were collected in real time. Treatment fell below “surviving sepsis” targets with only 28% of patients receiving sufficient fluid, and 64% receiving antibiotics within 3 hours, associated with delays in seeing physicians; however despite this mortality was lower than the nationally quoted average (14% at 90 days).