The development of new treatment modalities has resulted in a spate of treatment algorithms, often promulgated by medical societies and healthcare improvement organizations. As these modalities have rolled out, increasing levels of evidence have emerged to support or refute their utility in treating patients with sepsis. One of the greatest endeavours to date is the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) [6] that was originally launched in 2002 with the stated goal to reduce mortality by 25%. The primary method to achieve this goal was the development of evidence-based sepsis care guidelines that were published in 2004. [6] and recently revised in 2008.
The Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) has highlighted sepsis as an area of focus and has identified several deficiencies that may cause suboptimal care of patients with severe sepsis. These deficiencies include inconsistency in the early diagnosis of severe sepsis and septic shock, frequent inadequate volume resuscitation without defined endpoints, late or inadequate use of antibiotics, frequent failure to support the cardiac output when depressed, frequent failure to control hyperglycemias adequately, frequent failure to use low tidal volumes and pressures in acute lung injury, and frequent failure to treat adrenal inadequacy in refractory shock.
The management of patient with sepsis is influenced more by appropriate treatment with antibiotics and fluids than by specific intensive care. Therefore early intervention should never be delayed pending admission to the intensive care unit. The early and aggressive treatment of septic shock has been well documented in the survival sepsis campaign which is based on the best current practice.
The cornerstones of treatment are infection control, haemodynamic stabilization, and modulation of the septic response.