To make the diagnosis of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), two of the following criteria must be met:
Leading symptoms
- Respiratory insufficiency (limitation of breathing) with one of the following criteria:
- Tachycardia – pulse rate with > 90 beats/min.
- Temperature < 36 °C or > 38 °C
- Change in leukocyte count (white blood cell count); < 4,000/μl or > 12,000/μl or ≥ 10% immature neutrophil granulocytes (e.g., rod-nucleated granulocytes/rod nuclei).
Signs of severe sepsis are:
- Arterial hypoxemia – decrease in the level of oxygen in the blood.
- Disturbances of consciousness such as confusion, agitation, delirium.
- Lactic acidosis – form of metabolic acidosis (metabolic acidosis), in which a decrease in blood pH is due to the accumulation of acid lactate; usually caused by decreased organ perfusion (organ perfusion).
- Oliguria – urine production < 500 ml/24 h
- Platelet count change – change in platelet count < 100,000/μl or > 30% decrease/24 h
Note: At the 2016 Society of Critical Care Medicine Annual Meeting in Orlando, the SOFA score was presented for the first time, focusing on organ failure. Sepsis is now defined as “life-threatening organ dysfunction due to a dysregulated body response to infection.” The SIRS criteria (from 1992, 2001) on the body’s systemic inflammatory response have been deleted.
For more, see Sepsis/Classification: SOFA score (for “Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment Score”).
