Resuscitation in the First 3 Hours of Sepsis-Induced Hypotension Varies by Patient and Hospital Factors

• Type of Material: Article
• Authors: Jen-Ting Chen, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University; Russel J. Roberts, Massachusetts General Hospital; Jonathan Sevransky, Emory University; Michelle Ng Gong, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
• Language: English
• Date: 2023-02-06
• Publisher: Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc
• Publication Version: Final Published Version
• Copyright Statement: © 2023 The Authors. Published by Wolters Kluwer Health, Inc. on behalf of the Society of Critical Care Medicine.
• License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 4.0 International
• Final Published Version (URL): http://dx.doi.org/10.1097/CCE.0000000000000859
• Title of Journal or Parent Work: Critical Care Explorations
• Volume: 5
• Issue: 2
• Start Page: E0859
• End Page: E0859
• Keywords: surviving sepsis campaign; practice variation; septic shock; resuscitation; under-resuscitation; sepsis
• Research Categories: Health Sciences, Health Care Management; Health Sciences, Medicine and Surgery

Abstract

IMPORTANCE: Patient and hospital factors affects how we resuscitate patients in the first 3 hours of sepsis-induced hypotension. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate variability in compliance to the 3-hour surviving sepsis campaign (SSC) bundle and explore the association of early compliance with subsequent shock and in-hospital mortality. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study between September 2017 and February 2018. SETTING: Thirty-four academic medical centers. PARTICIPANTS: A subgroup sepsis-induced hypotensive patients from a larger shock cohort study. MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES: Compliance to SSC bundle that was defined as receiving appropriate antibiotics, 30 mL/kg of crystalloid or initiation of vasopressors, and lactate, obtained in the first 3 hours following sepsis-induced hypotension. RESULTS: We included 977 patients with septic-induced hypotension. Bundle compliance was 43.8%, with the lowest compliance to fluid or vasopressor components (56%). Patients with high Sequential Organ Failure Assessment scores and physiologic assessments were more likely to receive compliant care, as were patients with sepsis-induced hypotension onset in the emergency department (ED) or admitted to mixed medical-surgical ICUs. SSC compliance was not associated with in-hospital mortality (adjusted odds ratio, 0.72; 95% CI, 0.47-1.10). The site-to-site variability contributed to SSC compliance (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC], 0.15; 95% CI, 0.07-0.3) but not in-hospital mortality (ICC, 0.02; 95% CI, 0.001-0.24). Most patients remained in shock after 3 hours of resuscitation (SSC compliant 81.1% and noncompliant 53.7%). Mortality was higher among patients who were persistently hypotensive after 3 hours of resuscitation for both the SSC compliant (persistent hypotension 37% vs not hypotensive 27.2%; p = 0.094) and noncompliant (30.1% vs 18.2%; p = 0.001, respectively). CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE: Patients with a higher severity of illness and sepsis-induced hypotension identified in the ED were more likely to receive SSC-compliant care. SSC compliance was not associated with in-hospital mortality after adjusting for patient- and hospital-level differences. Higher mortality is seen among those who remain in shock after initial resuscitation, regardless of SSC compliance.