There's no single blood test for sepsis, but doctors use a combination of tests, primarily a Complete Blood Count (CBC), Blood Cultures, and a Lactate level, to look for infection, inflammation, and organ dysfunction, alongside symptoms like fever, rapid heart rate, and confusion. Other tests check for clotting issues (D-dimer, platelets) and organ function (liver/kidney) to assess severity.
A laboratory workup, including CBC, chemistry panel, LFTs, and biomarkers such as blood lactate, is essential for diagnosis, risk stratification, and prognosis of sepsis. The SOFA score is used to define sepsis and has diagnostic and prognostic value.
About sepsis
Because sepsis can happen quickly, it is important to be alert for early signs. The most common signs include the following: Source of infection (cough, sore throat, abdominal pain, pain with urination) and fevers. High heart rate.
At a glance. Sepsis is a fast-moving, life-threatening emergency caused by an extreme immune response to infection. Use TIME: Temperature, Infection, Mental decline, Extremely ill — to recognize sepsis symptoms early. Prevent sepsis by treating infections early, practicing hygiene and staying current on vaccinations.
The CBC of a patient with sepsis is commonly characterized by lymphocytopenia, neutrophilia, eosinopenia, thrombocytopenia, increased RDW, and increased NLR (Figure 2). The importance of thrombocytopenia in patients with sepsis is emphasized by the inclusion of platelet count in the SOFA score.
PCT and CRP as biomarkers of sepsis. PCT and CRP are both proteins produced in response to infection and/or inflammation. They are probably the two most widely used clinical tests to diagnose and manage patients with sepsis, with the exception of lactate.
There are no strict criteria to diagnose sepsis. That's why providers use a combination of findings — from a physical exam, lab tests, X-rays and other tests — to identify the infection (blood cultures) and diagnose sepsis.
Feeling or acting confused or not wanting to do things you usually do. Being sleepier than normal or being hard to wake up. Feeling very poorly or like something is really wrong with your body. Not peeing all day (or in 12 hours for babies and young children).
Some medical issues that can mimic the symptoms of sepsis are as follows:
Stage 1: Sepsis
A high fever above 101℉ (38℃) or low temperature below 96.8℉ (36℃) A heart rate above 90 beats per minute. A bacterial infection, fungal infection, or viral infection confirmed through positive blood culture results. Rapid breathing rate higher than 20 breaths per minute.
However, over the past 25 y it has been shown that gram-positive bacteria are the most common cause of sepsis. Some of the most frequently isolated bacteria in sepsis are Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Streptococcus pyogenes (S. pyogenes), Klebsiella spp., Escherichia coli (E.
A new sepsis marker
In addition to diagnostic tools such as blood culture, PCT and lactate, monocyte distribution width (MDW), a novel sepsis biomarker, is emerging as a valuable resource enabling physicians to make decisions regarding their patients who may be at risk for severe infection.
Fever is the most common presenting symptom in sepsis, but fever may be absent in some people, such as the elderly or those who are immunocompromised. The drop in blood pressure seen in sepsis can cause lightheadedness and is part of the criteria for septic shock.
If the PT and PTT are too high, it can indicate your blood is not clotting well. Platelets are tiny cells in your blood that help to form blood clots. If your platelet count is too low, it can mean your body is forming many unseen clots in tiny vessels all over your body. This can be an important sign of sepsis.
These conditions include anaphylaxis, gastrointestinal emergency, pulmonary disease, metabolic abnormality, toxin ingestion/withdrawal, vasculitis, and spinal injury.
There are no doctors who specialize in treating sepsis. The doctors who are most likely to see patients who have sepsis are intensivists (physicians who work in the intensive care unit) and emergency room physicians, who see the patients when they come in for urgent care.
The REDS score is a new, simple and objective scoring system that uses widely available variables to risk-stratify ED patients suspected of having sepsis and is better than its component scores.
Besides C-reactive protein (CRP), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and procalcitonin (PCT), other markers of inflammation include serum amyloid A, cytokines, alpha-1-acid glycoprotein, plasma viscosity, ceruloplasmin, hepcidin, and haptoglobin.
Suspected infection plus. Two out of Four SIRS criteria. Temp > 100.9 (38.3) or < 96.8 (36) Heart Rate > 90. Respiratory rate > 20 or PaCO.
Any type of infection can lead to sepsis. This includes bacterial, viral or fungal infections. Those that more commonly cause sepsis include infections of: Lungs, such as pneumonia.
[13, 14] Widespread use of antibiotics not only leads to selection for drug resistance and increases risk for Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), but also may increase a patient's risk for later development of sepsis.
These infections are most often linked to sepsis:
Sepsis comes in three stages, each more severe than the last. The first stage is called sepsis, sometimes called mild sepsis. This initial infection is when your body's response to the disease gets out of hand. If not treated quickly, it can progress to severe sepsis, where organs like your kidneys start to fail.