Surviving Sepsis Managment

Special Articles

Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines for management of severe sepsis and septic shock
R. Phillip Dellinger, MD; Jean M. Carlet, MD; Henry Masur, MD; Herwig Gerlach, MD, PhD; Thierry Calandra, MD; Jonathan Cohen, MD; Juan Gea-Banacloche, MD, PhD; Didier Keh, MD; John C. Marshall, MD; Margaret M. Parker, MD; Graham Ramsay, MD; Janice L. Zimmerman, MD; Jean-Louis Vincent, MD,PhD; Mitchell M. Levy, MD; for the Surviving Sepsis Campaign Management Guidelines Committee
Sponsoring Organizations: American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, American College of Chest Physicians, American College of Emergency Physicians, American Thoracic Society, Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society, European Society of Clinical Microbiology and Infectious Diseases, EuropeanSociety of Intensive Care Medicine, European Respiratory Society, International Sepsis Forum, Society of Critical Care Medicine, Surgical Infection Society.
Objective: In 2003, critical care and infectious disease experts representing 11 international organizations developed management guidelines for severe sepsis and septic shock that would be of practical use for the bedside clinician, under theauspices of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign, an international effort to increase awareness and improve outcome in severe sepsis. Design: The process included a modified Delphi method, a consensus conference, several subsequent smaller meetings of subgroups and key individuals, teleconferences, and electronic-based discussion among subgroups and among the entire committee. Methods: We used a modifiedDelphi methodology for grading recommendations, built on a 2001 publication sponsored by the International Sepsis Forum. We undertook a systematic review of the literature graded along five levels to create recommendation grades from A to E, with A being the highest grade. Pediatric considerations were provided to contrast adult and pediatric management. Results: Key recommendations, listed bycategory and not by hierarchy, include early goal-directed resuscitation of the septic patient during the first 6 hrs after recognition; appropriate diagnostic studies to ascertain causative organisms before starting antibiotics; early administration of broad-spectrum antibiotic therapy; reassessment of antibiotic therapy with microbiology and clinical data to narrow coverage, when appropriate; a usual7–10 days of antibiotic therapy guided by clinical response; source control with attention to the method that balances risks and benefits; equivalence of crystalloid and colloid resuscitation; aggressive fluid challenge to restore mean circulating filling pressure; vasopressor preference for norepinephrine and dopamine; cautious use of vasopressin pending further studies; avoiding low-dose dopamineadministration for renal protection; consideration of dobutamine inotropic therapy in some clinical situations; avoidance of supranormal oxygen delivery as a goal of therapy; stress-dose steroid therapy for septic shock; use of recombinant activated protein C in patients with severe sepsis and high risk for death; with resolution of tissue hypoperfusion and in the absence of coronary artery diseaseor acute hemorrhage, targeting a hemoglobin of 7–9 g/dL; appropriate use of fresh frozen plasma and platelets; a low tidal volume and limitation of inspiratory plateau pressure strategy for acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome; application of a minimal amount of positive end-expiratory pressure in acute lung injury/acute respiratory distress syndrome; a semirecumbent bedposition unless contraindicated; protocols for weaning and sedation/analgesia, using either intermittent bolus sedation or continuous infusion sedation with daily interruptions/lightening; avoidance of neuromuscular blockers, if at all possible; maintenance of blood glucose 7.15; use of deep vein thrombosis/stress ulcer prophylaxis; and consideration of limitation of support where appropriate....