Abstract

LOMBARDO VAILLANT, Tomás Ariel; SOLER MOREJON, Caridad  and  TAMARGO BARBEITO, Teddy Osmín. Scoring systems in sepsis. Rev Cub Med Mil [online]. 2012, vol.41, n.4, pp.394-406. ISSN 0138-6557.

Introduction: the surgical patient inevitably faces the challenge of postoperative infection. Scoring systems in sepsis are useful tools for decision-making with patients who are difficult to evaluate. Objective: to present some concepts related to the pathophysiology of surgical patients, and postoperative sepsis, as well as the advantages and limitations of the main scoring systems developed for assessing this patient in intensive care units. Methods: A narrative review of the main aspects of the surgical patient response to infection was conducted supported by a search in Pubmed/MEDLINE, and LILACS with MeSH terms: peritonitis, sepsis, and scores, among others, by manual search. Relevant medical journals and articles from international conferences were identified. Results: Definitions and key concepts are given about the septic patient as well as elements related to the pathophysiology of surgical patient sepsis and their immune response. The main sepsis scoring systems used in intensive care units, their advantages and limitations were described. Conclusions: scoring systems are tools of great value in supporting clinical method, its integration into the medical assistance can reduce errors and optimize the process of decision-making in situations of major organizational stress; it also improves the quality and patient safety.

Keywords : postoperative sepsis; scoring systems; secondary bacterial peritonitis; surgical patient.

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