Gauging the Severity of Surgical Sepsis

Abstract

• I developed a method for scoring the severity of a septic process, based on deteriorated functions in seven key organ systems of the body. The scoring system is numeric and recognizes that the risk to a patient rises geometrically as organ-system functions deteriorate step by step. The scoring system was validated by reviewing the clinical course of 30 patients with sepsis. Prognosis and hospital stay correlated well with individual scores. The scoring system offered more accurate comparisons in clinical studies of infected patients and helped follow up a patient with sepsis more accurately. (Arch Surg 1983;118:1190-1192)