Reviewed and updated by Megan Doble, DNP, CRNP, FNP-C, AGACNP-C: March 4, 2024

Sepsis and septic shock are serious life-threatening responses to an infection that impacts millions of patients worldwide. Early identification and management of these conditions improves outcomes. Patients with sepsis can present in a variety of ways making it very difficult to diagnose. There are multiple tools supported by experts in the management of sepsis that clinicians can utilize to screen patients for sepsis including the Sequential (Sepsis-Related) Organ Failure Assessment Score (SOFA), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) criteria, National Early Warning Score (NEWS), or Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS) (Evans at al., 2021). These tools require a combination of physiologic and laboratory variables to screen for the presence of sepsis.  

Use this infographic as a reference guide for lab results that you need to screen patients for sepsis.

References:

Evans, L., Rhodes, A., Alhazzani, W., Antonelli, M., Coopersmith, C. M., French, C., Machado, F. R., Mcintyre, L., Ostermann, M., Prescott, H. C., Schorr, C., Simpson, S., Wiersinga, W. J., Alshamsi, F., Angus, D. C., Arabi, Y., Azevedo, L., Beale, R., Beilman, G., Belley-Cote, E., … Levy, M. (2021). Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2021. Critical care medicine, 49(11), e1063–e1143. https://doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000005337

Nehring S.M., Goyal A., & Patel B.C. C Reactive Protein. [Updated 2023 Jul 10]. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2024 Jan-. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK441843/

Neviere, R. (2023, September 15). Sepsis syndromes in adults: Epidemiology, definitions, clinical presentation, diagnosis, and prognosis.  UpToDate. https://www.uptodate.com/contents/sepsis-syndromes-in-adults-epidemiology-definitions-clinical-presentation-diagnosis-and-prognosis

Ostermann, M., & Joannidis, M. (2016). Acute kidney injury 2016: diagnosis and diagnostic workup. Critical care (London, England), 20(1), 299. https://doi.org/10.1186/s13054-016-1478-z

Samsudin, I., & Vasikaran, S. D. (2017). Clinical Utility and Measurement of Procalcitonin. The Clinical biochemist. Reviews, 38(2), 59–68.

 

 

More Resources
COLLECTION	POCKET CARD	GUIDELINE SUMMARY
Sepsis Guidelines and Protocols: Providing Care to Patients	Recognizing and Managing Sepsis	Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock in Adults