The 28-Day Mortality Outcome of the Complete Hour-1 Sepsis Bundle in the Emergency Department

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and Vancomycin Prescribing in the Emergency Department: A Single-center Study Assessing Antibiotic Prescribing

Objectives

Given the support for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) antimicrobial stewardship in the 2021 Surviving Sepsis Campaign Guidelines, we sought to measure the use of vancomycin in the emergency department (ED) in the years preceding these recommendations.

Methods

A retrospective cohort study was conducted of all patients aged ≥ 18 years presenting to 5 emergency departments within a university-based health system who were given intravenous (IV) vancomycin during their ED index visit. The primary outcome assessed the proportion of patients with MRSA-positive blood cultures who received IV vancomycin in the ED. We also measured associations between clinical attributes associated with any MRSA infection.

Results

Of the 20,212 unique ED visits for patients who received IV vancomycin, 63% (n = 12,755) had at least 1 MRSA risk factor. Only 2.4% (n = 494) and 14.1% (n = 2850) of patients receiving IV vancomycin in the ED were found to have MRSA bacteremia or any MRSA-positive culture, respectively. A total of 3160 patients met Sepsis-3 criteria and received IV vancomycin, though 65% (n = 2064) had no MRSA risk factors. For any patient with culture-proven MRSA, 63.8% (n = 315) and 43.4% (n = 1236) received an MRSA antimicrobial in the ED. MRSA risk factors were not associated with MRSA bacteremia (≥1 MRSA risk factor: odds ratio, 1.3, 95% CI, 0.9-1.8) or an MRSA-positive culture of any type (odds ratio, 0.9, 95% CI, 0.7-1.1).

Conclusion

Within our hospital system, MRSA was an infrequent cause of bacteremia for patients presenting to the ED with sepsis or septic shock. Although vancomycin is frequently used in the ED, many patients with culture-proven MRSA did not receive MRSA antimicrobials. Notably, one-third of patients with culture-proven MRSA had no MRSA risk factors. MRSA risk factors were not predictive of culture-proven MRSA, thus highlighting the complexity of antimicrobial stewardship in the ED without validated clinical decision rules.

A program to improve sepsis management in the Emergency Department: a multicenter prospective study in France

Implementation of a regional sepsis program to improve compliance with sepsis care bundles and optimize septic patient management and outcomes in the Emergency Department (ED). The program included a multifaceted intervention in 8 EDs: creation of a regional sepsis team, meetings, education (yearly 6-h course and site visits) and sepsis alert. Clinical practice was evaluated in each ED during 1 month every year over 3 years. The primary outcome was the initiation of all criteria of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) bundle within 3 h after triage. Secondary outcomes were the initiation of the 3-h bundle in patients with hypotension (SBP ≤ 100 mmHg), admission related to infection or not, proportion of organ supports, subsequent intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and early mortality (day 7). During the 3-month study period, 739 patients were identified with a sepsis including 8% with septic shock. Compliance with the SSC bundle improved during the three periods (P1: 28/176 (16%), P2: 42/272 (15%), P3:69/291 (24%), p = 0.023). In patients with hypotension (n = 142, 19%), no improvement was observed (P1:12/38 (32%), P2:18/46 (39%), P3: 28/58 (48%), p = 0.255). Mortality on day 7 was also similar (10% vs 11% vs 9%, p = 0.621). In multivariate analysis, age (OR = 1.03; 95% CI 1.01-1.05, p = 0.003) and confusion (OR = 2.37; 95% CI 1.37-4.14, p = 0.002) were independently associated with D7 mortality. Patients referred to ED for infection had a better prognosis compared to those with a non-specific reason (OR = 0.56; 95% CI 0.32-0.97, p = 0.038). A regional sepsis educational program appears to improve compliance with the SSC bundle. Pre-hospital identification of sepsis appears to improve further management.

Development of a Clinical Score for Predicting 28-Day Mortality in Geriatric Sepsis Patients; a Cohort study

Introduction

Sepsis is a significant and common cause of death and burden among critically ill patients, which has increasing incidence and mortality in adults over 60 and advanced age. This study aimed to develop an easy-to-use clinical tool for assessing 28-day mortality risk in older sepsis patients upon their initial assessment in the emergency department (ED).

Method

A retrospective cohort study was conducted using electronic medical records of older (≥60 years) ED patients with suspected sepsis from August 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018. A new prediction score was formulated based on the logistic coefficients of clinical predictors through multivariable regression analyses. Then, the score's screening performance was evaluated and compared to existing scoring systems; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), National early warning score (NEWS), and The Ramathibodi early warning score (REWS); using receiver operating characteristic curve analysis (AuROC).

Result

The study included 599 patients with the mean age of 77.13 (range: 60-101) years (56.43% male) and an overall 28-day mortality rate of 7.01%. The newly developed prediction score had seven independent predictors of 28-day mortality: malignancy, dependent status, heart rate, respiratory rate, oxygen saturation, consciousness, and lactate, which demonstrated excellent discriminative ability (AuROC: 0.87, 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.82 - 0.92), significantly outperforming SIRS (AuROC: 0.62), qSOFA (AuROC: 0.72), NEWS (AuROC: 0.74), and REWS (AuROC: 0.71), all with p-values <0.01. The score allowed risk stratification into low-risk (positive likelihood ratio (LR+): 0.37, 95% CI: 0.24 - 0.58) and high-risk (LR+: 4.14, 95% CI: 3.14 - 5.44) groups with sensitivity of 69.0% and specificity of 83.3% at a cut-off point of 6.

Conclusion

The novel prediction score demonstrates a remarkable ability to predict 28-day mortality risk in older sepsis patients during their initial ED assessment, offering potential for improved risk stratification and treatment guidance in older patients.

The role of lactate-to-albumin ratio to predict 30-day risk of death in patients with sepsis in the emergency department: a decision tree analysis

BACKGROUND

Accurately estimating the prognosis of septic patients on arrival in the emergency department (ED) is clinically challenging. The lactate-to-albumin ratio (LAR) has recently been proposed to improve the predictive performance of septic patients admitted to the ICU.

OBJECTIVES

This study aims to assess whether the LAR could be used as an early prognostic marker of 30-day mortality in patients with sepsis in the ED.

METHODS

A prospective observational study was conducted in the ED of the Hospital of Merano. All patients with a diagnosis of sepsis were considered. The LAR was recorded on arrival in the ED. The primary outcome measure was mortality at 30 days. The predictive role of the LAR for mortality was evaluated with the area under the ROC curve, logistic regression adjusted for the Charlson Comorbidity Index value, National Early Warning Score, and Sequential Organ Failure score, and with decision tree analysis.

RESULTS

459 patients were enrolled, of whom 17% (78/459) died at 30 days. The median LAR of the patients who died at 30 days (0.78 [0.45-1.19]) was significantly higher than the median LAR of survivors (0.42 [0.27-0.65]) (p < 0.001). The discriminatory ability of the LAR for death at 30 days was 0.738, higher than that of lactate alone (0.692), and slightly lower than that of albumin alone (0.753). The decision trees confirmed the role of the LAR as an independent risk factor for mortality.

CONCLUSION

The LAR can be used as an index to better predict the 30-day risk of death in septic patients.

The reverse shock index multiplied by the Glasgow Coma Scale score can predict the need for initial resuscitation in patients suspected of sepsis

For patients suspected of sepsis, early recognition of the need for initial resuscitation is key in management. This study evaluated the ability of a modified shock index - the reverse shock index multiplied by the Glasgow Coma Scale score (rSIG) - to predict the need for initial resuscitation in patients with sepsis. This retrospective study involved adults with infection who were admitted to a Japanese tertiary care hospital from an emergency department between January and November 2020. The rSIG, modified Early Warning Score (MEWS), quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA), and original shock index (SI) values were recorded using initial vital signs. The primary outcome was the area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUROC) for the composite outcome consisting of vasopressor use, mechanical ventilation, and 72-h mortality. Secondary outcomes were the AUROCs for each component of the primary outcome and 28-day mortality. As a result, the primary outcome was met by 67 of the 724 patients (9%). The AUROC was significantly higher for the rSIG than for the other tools (rSIG 0.84 [0.78 - 0.88]; MEWS 0.78 [0.71 - 0.84]; qSOFA 0.72 [0.65 - 0.79]; SI 0.80 [0.74 - 0.85]). Compared with MEWS and qSOFA, the rSIG also had a higher AUROC for vasopressor use and mechanical ventilation, but not for 72-h mortality or in-hospital mortality. The rSIG could be a simple and reliable predictor of the need for initial resuscitation in patients suspected of sepsis.

SEPSIS UNIT IN THE EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT: IMPACT ON MANAGEMENT AND OUTCOME OF SEPTIC PATIENTS

ABSTRACT

Study hypothesis : Implementation of a new pathway dedicated to septic patients within the emergency department (ED) would improve early management, organ dysfunction, and outcome. Methods: During phase 1, all consecutive adult patients with infection and qualifying quick Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (qSOFA) score upon ED admission were managed according to standards of care. A multifaceted intervention was then performed (implementation phase): educational program, creation of a sepsis alert upon ED admission incorporated in the professional software, together with severity scores and Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) bundle reminders, and dedication of two rooms to the management of septic patients (sepsis unit). During phase 2, patients were managed according to this new organization. Results: Of the 89,040 patients admitted to the ED over the two phases, 2,643 patients (3.2%) had sepsis including 277 with a qualifying qSOFA score on admission (phase 1, 141 patients; phase 2, 136 patients). Recommendations of SSC 3-h bundle significantly improved between the two periods regarding lactate measurement (87% vs. 96%, P = 0.006), initiation of fluid resuscitation (36% vs. 65%, P < 0.001), blood cultures sampling (83% vs. 93%, P = 0.014), and administration of antibiotics (18% vs. 46%, P < 0.001). The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score between H0 and H12 varied significantly more during phase 2 (1.9 ± 1.9 vs. 0.8 ± 2.6, P < 0.001). Mortality significantly decreased during the second phase, on day 3 (28% vs. 15%, P = 0.008) and on day 28 (40% vs. 28%, P = 0.013). Conclusion: Systematic detection, education, and per protocol organization with a sepsis unit dedicated to the early management of septic patients appear to improve compliance with SSC bundles, organ dysfunction, and short-term mortality. These results warrant to be confirmed by prospective studies.