Today’s medical and hospital news sites are buzzing with terms like “code sepsis” and talk of early detection and treatment of sepsis in patients. Hospital systems around the country have initiated various programs to combat sepsis before it can become life-threatening. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign was first rolled out as a guideline in 2004. The guideline has been updated multiple times since its creation to better reflect the advances in evidence-based medicine.  The guideline enacts a series of treatments that include serum lactate level, blood cultures, broad-spectrum antibiotics, rapid fluid bolus, and possibly vasopressors to combat hypotension. These measures are to be started within 1 hour of time zero or time of presentation. This last requirement is often where hospitals, both inpatient and emergency setting, fall short (Mitchell M. Levy, 2018).

Generally, hospitals and providers do a great job at keeping the specter of sepsis at bay, sometimes, however, procedures are not followed, vital signs are missed, the key clues to the early onset go unnoticed. When this happens a cascade of spiraling conditions can occur that place the patient in increasing jeopardy.

At this point, treatment must be initiated to preserve life and limb. As with prevention, hospitals most often respond appropriately and the patient is spared. Sadly, this is not always the case. Sometimes providers go beyond established policies and over-treat the symptoms like hypotension with extreme use of vasoconstrictors. Continuous peripheral vascular assessments are imperative when vasoconstrictors are used. If the patient is insufficiently monitored,  and peripheral vasculature compromise is not caught, limb ischemia can occur.

There is no true replacement for the loss of a limb. The cost of rehabilitation and prosthetics are incredibly high and the life quality of the patient is forever changed. In these times, when patients seek compensation for the mistreatment, ADROIT^® is an experienced resource to aid legal teams in the pursuit of justice.

The complete article “The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Bundle: 2018 can be viewed here.