Sepsis

03/25/17

Today I will be explaining the idea of sepsis, as it is definitely a hot topic in the medical world.

Many of my readers may be wondering what sepsis is, or may have never even heard of it. Essentially it is a general term applied to when the body attempts to fight an infection but ends up damaging itself instead, which is a very prevalent and life threatening condition in the hospital.

Many different things can show sepsis is/has occurred such as: heightened heart rate, fast respiratory rate, or very high body temperature.

It has varying levels of severity ranging from standard sepsis to severe sepsis all the way to septic shock. As a sepsis develops, it can be very dangerous to the patient, largely due to the possibility of blood clots forming which impair blood-flow and cause tissue/organ death.

This is a very serious topic as it is not completely understood which factors exactly can lead to sepsis. Infections are highly commonplace in your average hospital, which is why sepsis is such a big issue at Dignity Health.