Surviving Sepsis Puerto Rico: A Call For Action.

Abstract

There are 1.7 million sepsis-related hospitalizations each year making it the sixth most common cause for hospitalization in the United States. Not only are this hospitalizations common, they are expensive to our medical system with $15.3 billion spent yearly (3) and hospitalizations lasting 75% longer than for other conditions. In 2001, Rivers et al published in the NEJM the results of his study "Early Goal Directed Therapy (EGDT) in The Treatment of Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock". EGDT demonstrated a 16.5% decrease in mortality in septic patients (4). In 2002 the Surviving Sepsis Campaign began as a collaboration between the Society of Critical Care Medicine and European Society of Intensive Care Medicine with goals of reducing worldwide sepsis related mortality by 25% in the next 5 years. Despite the proven benefit of early identification and management, knowledge regarding the topic in Puerto Rico remains scarce. In a study performed in PR by Fernandez et al. in 2006, only an alarming 31.4% of doctors from different specialties correctly identified SIRS criteria. Our goal is to educate physicians about the importance of early identification and treatment of the septic patient. A campaign to increase awareness and improve care is essential and we propose treatment protocols for our Puerto Rican hospitals to help reduce morbidity, mortality, length of stay and costs.