The current definition of sepsis is based on comparatively contemporary knowledge. However, the disease process is not fully understood and treatment still profoundly challenging. Definitions and guidelines have changed over the recent years, and clinicians are always interested to know what the new and current thoughts on the subject are.
Many papers have been published in the medical press, reporting on definitions, scores, models, cytokines, therapies, new trends, statistics, campaigns, including a sepsis anniversary day-which is not celebrating but fighting against sepsis. Together they signify the enormous interest in the subject.
The American College of Chest Physicians and the Society of Critical Care Medicine met in 1992 and gave the first definition of sepsis and associated organ failure [1]. Eleven years later, American intensivists met European intensivists to evaluate if there was a need for a new definition of sepsis [2]. [More]