Impact of compliance with infection management guidelines on outcome in patients with severe sepsis: a prospective observational multi-center study.

INTRODUCTION: Current sepsis guidelines recommend antimicrobial treatment (AT) within one hour after onset of sepsis-related organ dysfunction (OD) and surgical source control within 12 hours. The objective of this study was to explore the association between initial infection management according to sepsis treatment recommendations and patient outcome. METHODS: In a prospective observational multi-center cohort study in 44 German ICUs, we studied 1,011 patients with severe sepsis or septic shock regarding times to AT, source control, and adequacy of AT. Primary outcome was 28-day mortality. RESULTS: Median time to AT was 2.1 (IQR 0.8 - 6.0) hours and 3 hours (-0.1 - 13.7) to surgical source control. Only 370 (36.6%) patients received AT within one hour after OD in compliance with recommendation. Among 422 patients receiving surgical or interventional source control, those who received source control later than 6 hours after onset of OD had a significantly higher 28-day mortality than patients with earlier source control (42.9% versus 26.7%, P <0.001). Time to AT was significantly longer in ICU and hospital non-survivors; no linear relationship was found between time to AT and 28-day mortality. Regardless of timing, 28-day mortality rate was lower in patients with adequate than non-adequate AT (30.3% versus 40.9%, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A delay in source control beyond 6 hours may have a major impact on patient mortality. Adequate AT is associated with improved patient outcome but compliance with guideline recommendation requires improvement. There was only indirect evidence about the impact of timing of AT on sepsis mortality.

[Pain Management in geriatric patients]. / Schmerztherapie im Alter.

Pains belong to the most frequent reasons for a doctor's visit. In elderly people, it is the result of progressive degenerative processes (e. g. , arthrosis, Osteoarthritis, degenerative spinal changes) and a higher prevalence of cancer disease to a further increase of the patients who suffer unnecessarily from pains. By the increasing polymorbidity (e.g. diabetes mellitus, vascular disease) and a declining immune competence, the prevalence of polyneuropathy and post-herpetic neuralgia rises. Insufficiently treated chronic or periodically returning pain can lead to serious interferences of the physical, cognitive and social everyday competence and therefore to a limited quality of life. These facts shows the relevance of a sufficient pain therapy in geriatric patients. Nevertheless, on account of existing comorbidity, polypharmacy as well as of impaired organ function, the pharmacological pain therapy in old patients also poses a potential hazard. Although pain prevalence is higher with geriatric than with younger patients, significantly less analgesics are prescribed in the elderly population. This results from existing uncertainties at the treating doctors as well as the complicated pain capture, in particular with cognitive affected patients. The present article should indicate options of treatment for geriatric pain patients.