It also identified strict diagnostic criteria that still apply today (Dellinger,2003) (Table 4). Septic shock can also trigger the coagulation cascade leading to disseminated intravascular coagulation, a complex disorder resulting in simultaneous microvascular clotting and haemorrhage caused by the depletion of clotting factors and excessive fibrinolysis (Thelan et al, 1998).Therefore, signs of clotting dysfunction such as activated partial thromboplastin