Surviving Severe Sepsis: Is That Enough?

Surviving Severe Sepsis: Is That Enough?
Critical Care Medicine
Anderson-Shaw, L

Sepsis and severe forms of sepsis is a frequent diagnosis in the ICU setting. “Sepsis is one of the oldest and most elusive syndromes in medicine”. The definition of severe sepsis includes a systemic inflammatory response to infection complicated by acute organ dysfunction . “Over 1,665,000 cases of sepsis occur in the United States each year, with a mortality rate up to 50%” . In the ICU setting survival of severe sepsis is a primary goal, however, quality-of-life (QoL) issues for these patients after discharge is of great concern to the patient and to their family and physicians who will be providing the follow-up care that may be complex and ongoing . Long after hospitalization, survivors of severe sepsis experience an impaired QoL and an ongoing feeling that they may be imposing a burden of care to their family and loved ones................