Sepsis definitions

Sepsis currently has differing definitions as shown in the table below. These definitions were compiled from the three following sources:

1) Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock (2016)

2) Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) (2015/2016)

3) The Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3) from 2016

	Sepsis	Severe Sepsis	Septic Shock
Surviving Sepsis Campaign	Life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection	Not defined	A subset of sepsis with circulatory and cellular/metabolic dysfunction associated with a higher risk of mortality
Center of Medicare and Medicaid Services	Both of the following: 1) 2 or more SIRS criteria 2) Known/suspected source of infection	Sepsis + end organ dysfunction (See CMS Sepsis Core Measure Algorithm)	Severe Sepsis + Lactate level greater than/equal to 4 mmol/L OR hypotension in the first hour after completion of a 30 ml/kg bolus
Sepsis-3	Acute change in greater than/equal to 2 SOFA criteria secondary to an infection	Not defined	Requirement of vasopressors to maintain MAP > 65 mmHg and serum lactate > 2 mmol/L in the absence of hypovolemia

This table is based on the 2019 published table by the Wisconsin Chapter of American College of Emergency Physicians.

External links

• Surviving Sepsis Campaign
• Third International Consensus Definitions for Sepsis and Septic Shock (Sepsis-3)