• Scott C Brakenridge, Philip A Efron, Michael C Cox, Julie A Stortz, Russell B Hawkins, Gabriela Ghita, Anna Gardner, Alicia M Mohr, Stephen D Anton, Lyle L Moldawer, and Frederick A Moore.
• Department of Surgery, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, FL.
• Ann. Surg. 2019 Sep 1; 270 (3): 502-510.

ObjectiveWe sought to compare traditional inpatient outcomes to long-term functional outcomes and mortality of surgical intensive care unit (SICU) patients with sepsis.Summary Of Background DataAs inpatient sepsis mortality declines, an increasing number of initial sepsis survivors now progress into a state of chronic critical illness (CCI) and their post-discharge outcomes are unclear.MethodsWe performed a prospective, longitudinal cohort study of SICU patients with sepsis.ResultsAmong this recent cohort of 301 septic SICU patients, 30-day mortality was 9.6%. Only 13 (4%) patients died within 14 days, primarily of refractory multiple organ failure (62%). The majority (n = 189, 63%) exhibited a rapid recovery (RAP), whereas 99 (33%) developed CCI. CCI patients were older, with greater comorbidities, and more severe and persistent organ dysfunction than RAP patients (all P < 0.01). At 12 months, overall cohort performance status was persistently worse than presepsis baseline (WHO/Zubrod score 1.4 ± 0.08 vs 2.2 ± 0.23, P > 0.0001) and mortality was 20.9%. Of note at 12 months, the CCI cohort had persistent severely impaired performance status and a much higher mortality (41.4%) than those with RAP (4.8%) after controlling for age and comorbidity burden (Cox hazard ratio 1.27; 95% confidence interval, 1.14-1.41, P < 0.0001). Among CCI patients, independent risk factors for death by 12 months included severity of comorbidities and persistent organ dysfunction (sequential organ failure assessment ≥6) at day 14 after sepsis onset.ConclusionsThere is discordance between low inpatient mortality and poor long-term outcomes after surgical sepsis, especially among older adults, increasing comorbidity burden and patients that develop CCI. This represents important information when discussing expected outcomes of surgical patients who experience a complicated clinical course owing to sepsis.

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