Sepsis is well known to cause a high patient death rate (up to 50%) during the intensive care unit (ICU) stay.
And it is fatal. Between one in eight and one in four patients with sepsis will die during hospitalization – as most notably Muhammad Ali did in June 2016. In fact sepsis contributes to one-third to one-half of all in-hospital deaths.
The length of time you have to stay in the ICU depends on how ill you are and the type of help you need. You will only be discharged from the ICU when you no longer need the special drugs and machines to support your body and when you are strong enough to cope on a general unit.
Sepsis may cause atypical blood clotting. The resulting small clots or burst blood vessels may damage or destroy tissues. Most people recover from mild sepsis, but the mortality rate for septic shock is about 30% to 40%. Also, an episode of severe sepsis raises the risk for future infections.
Patients with sepsis are usually treated in the intensive care unit (ICU). Sepsis results from infection, and these patients often develop multiple organ-system failure.
This can cause vital organs to shut down. This usually starts with the kidneys. Blood pressure can drop dangerously low. This can cause less oxygen and nutrients to reach your kidneys.
In conclusion, in ICU patients, mortality increases with length of stay up to 10 days. Patients staying in the ICU for more than 10 days have a relatively good long-term survival. Most survivors have an acceptable quality of life.
Most people make a full recovery from sepsis.
How Quickly Can Sepsis Develop? Sepsis can develop quickly from initial infection and progress to septic shock in as little as 12 to 24 hours.1 You may have an infection that's not improving or you could even be sick without realizing it.
Septic shock death timeline
Clinically identified cases of septic shock are more likely to pass away within 28 days than undiagnosed cases. Within the first week of diagnosis, sepsis that progresses to severe sepsis or septic shock increases the risk of death.
For example, the “golden hour” as applied to the treatment of critically children and adults with severe sepsis and septic shock is based upon early recognition, early administration of antibiotics, and early reversal of the shock state.
Sepsis, defined as infection with associated organ failure, was identified during the ICU stay in 2973 (29.5%) patients, including in 1808 (18.0%) already at ICU admission. Occurrence rates of sepsis varied from 13.6% to 39.3% in the different regions.
Many people go home when they leave the hospital after sepsis and follow up with outpatient rehab to help rebuild their strength. That's most common for people who don't have a lot of other chronic illnesses. If you aren't healthy enough to return home right away, there are a few options for rehab.
The recommended first-line agent for septic shock is norepinephrine, preferably administered through a central catheter. Norepinephrine has predominant alpha-receptor agonist effects and results in potent peripheral arterial vasoconstriction without significantly increasing heart rate or cardiac output.
When treatment or medical intervention is missing, sepsis is a leading cause of death, more significant than breast cancer, lung cancer, or heart attack. Research shows that the condition can kill an affected person in as little as 12 hours.
Many people will find recovering from sepsis difficult and can have a number of symptoms develop in the weeks or months after they leave hospital. Common symptoms people suffer fall into three categories: physical, psychological, and cognitive.
Bacterial infections cause most cases of sepsis. Sepsis can also be a result of other infections, including viral infections, such as COVID-19 or influenza, or fungal infections.
Sepsis has various long-term effects on brain function and neurological outcomes, including alteration in mood, motor function, and cognitive impairments [4,5,6].
Incidence of sepsis is increasing and the short-term mortality is improving, generating more sepsis survivors. These sepsis survivors suffer from additional morbidities such as higher risk of readmissions, cardiovascular disease, cognitive impairment and of death, for years following index sepsis episode.
The ICU all-cause mortality was 16.1% and 76% of all patients survive until hospital discharge. The SAPS II score overestimated hospital mortality [SMR at hospital discharge 0.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.63–0.76] but accurately predicted one-year all-cause mortality [1-year SMR 1.01; (95% CI 0.98–1.08)].
Recovering from intensive care
Some people may leave the ICU after a few days. Others may need to stay in the ICU for months or may deteriorate there. Many people who leave an ICU will make a good recovery.
The average length of stay in intensive care unit was 10.2 ± 25.2 days. The median length of stay was 2 days and ranges between quarters were 1–7 days. 48.5% of patients were operated on. The mortality rate was 32.5% (Table 1).
Organ failure, including kidney failure, is a hallmark of sepsis. As the body is overwhelmed, its organs begin to shut down, causing even more problems. The kidneys are often among the first to be affected.