Sepsis and septic shock are leading causes of death worldwide. The international Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) is a joint initiative of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM) and the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM). The SSC is led by multidisciplinary international experts committed to improving the time to recognition and treatment of sepsis and septic shock. Initiated in 2002 at the ESICM’s annual meeting with the Barcelona Declaration, the campaign progressed has several aims, including the development of guidelines for diagnosis, treatment and post-ICU care of sepsis and a reduction of mortality from sepsis.
Definitions for sepsis and septic shock were last revised in 2016. The resulting publications can be found below.
The updated adult sepsis guidelines represent input from a diverse panel of 60 experts and a survey of more than 800 intensivists from more than 30 countries. The guidelines recommend involving patients and their families in goals-of-care discussions to treat the long-term effects of sepsis.
Guidelines Access
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) has updated the previously released Guidelines on the Management of Critically Ill Adults with Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
The panel issued nine statements related to ICU patients with severe or critical COVID-19. Several of the original recommendations remain current.
Access the original guidelines, published in June 2020, here.
This guideline is updated regularly as new evidence becomes available.
The guidelines were developed to help improve care for children from birth to age 18. While the condition is more common in adults, 1.2 million children develop sepsis globally every year. Sepsis can be overlooked in children because low blood pressure (a sign of septic shock) may not occur until very late in the illness. For this reason, the guidelines recommend each institution implement screening and protocols to facilitate timely recognition and treatment for children with sepsis and septic shock.
ESICM has released The Surviving Sepsis Campaign Bundle: 2018 update (Free Access) in our official journal Intensive Care Medicine.
Additionally, we have prepared a short animation video to highlight the five steps of the Hour-1 Bundle that healthcare providers are recommended to begin as soon as sepsis is recognised.
More information and the video are available here.
Rhodes A. et al. Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock: 2016.
Free live webinars are available for members & non-members on the ESICM Media Library.
The incidence of invasive fungal infections has increased steadily over the past decade due to increased numbers of immunocompromised and ICU patients. They represent a matter of concern in ICUs as they can produce infections that range from non-life-threatening superficial disorders to severe invasive diseases involving any organ. To improve the outcomes of patients with fungal infections, intensivists need to be aware of the inherent challenges.
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