Definitions and Criteria
| Term | Definition | Clinical criteria |
|---|---|---|
| Sepsis | Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection | Suspected or proven infection with total SOFA score ≥2 |
| Septic shock | Subset of sepsis in which underlying circulatory, cellular and metabolic abnormalities are associated with a greater risk of mortality than sepsis alone | Sepsis with persisting hypotension requiring vasopressor therapy to maintain mean arterial pressure ≥65 mmHg and having a serum lactate level >2 mmol/L, despite adequate volume resuscitation. |
| Organ dysfunction | Organ dysfunction is identified using SOFA score. If previous baseline organ dysfunction is not known, for the purposes of the initial diagnosis baseline SOFA could be assumed as 0. | Please refer to Table 35.6 |
| qSOFA | Consists of three variables Presence of two or more of these abnormalities in patients with suspected infection identifies higher risk of developing adverse outcomes often associated with sepsis. | Systolic blood pressure <100 mmHg Acute change in mentation (GCS ≥13) Respiratory rate >22/min |
Definition refers to the illness concept and Criteria refers to the clinical variables used to identify a case of sepsis or septic shock.