Answer
Patients with infected foci should be taken for definitive surgical treatment after initial resuscitation and administration of antibiotics. When an infected focus persists, there is little to be gained from spending hours on attempting to stabilize the patient.
Infectious processes require expeditious surgical drainage or debridement for source control, even if the patient does not appear stable. Without emergency surgical treatment, the patient’s condition may not improve.
Did this answer your question?
Additional feedback? (Optional)
Thank you for your feedback!
Media Gallery
-
Stages of sepsis based on American College of Chest Physicians/Society of Critical Care Medicine Consensus Panel guidelines.
-
Pathogenesis of sepsis and multiorgan failure.
-
Venn diagram showing overlap of infection, bacteremia, sepsis, systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), and multiorgan dysfunction.
-
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) present in this chest x-ray (CXR) film is a common organ system affected in multiorgan failure of sepsis.
-
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) shown in this chest x-ray (CXR) film is a common complication of septic shock. Note bilateral airspace infiltration, absence of cardiomegaly, vascular redistribution, and Kerley B lines.
-
Organizing phase of diffuse alveolar damage (ARDS) secondary to septic shock shows diffuse alveolar injury and infiltration with inflammatory cells.
-
Organizing diffuse alveolar damage in a different location showing disorganization of pulmonary architecture.
-
A high-power view of organizing diffuse alveolar damage (ARDS) shows hyperplasia of type II pneumocytes and hyaline membrane deposits.
of
8
