Descriptive analysis of timing of administration of antimicrobial therapy for septic shock in a medical–surgical intensive care unit

Abstract

Background:Septic shock remains a major cause of morbidity and mortality in intensive care units worldwide. According to the guidelines of the Society of Critical Care Medicine, antimicrobial therapy should be initiated within the first hour after recognition of severe sepsis. Furthermore, initiation of antibiotic administration within this timeframe has been associated with better survival to hospital discharge among adult patients, whereas survival declined with delays beyond 1 hour. We undertook this study to evaluate the timing of administration of antibiotics in relation to diagnosis of septic shock in an 11-bed medical—surgical intensive care unit (ICU) within a community hospital to compare the findings with international guidelines and best evidence.Methods:We performed a retrospective chart audit for adult patients (>18 years of age) with septic shock who were admitted to the Burnaby Hospital medical—surgical ICU between January and June 2006. We extracted from each chart the time of initiation o...