Sepsis in internal wards: results of an Italian multicenter prospective study

Abstract

Sepsis is a frequent inflammatory disease with a high mortality and morbidity rate. Most of the data about epidemiology, management and prognosis of patients with sepsis came mainly from studies conducted within Intensive Care Units (ICUs). A consistent number of studies suggest that a proportion of patients with sepsis and severe sepsis are admitted to internal medicine units, and not transferred to an ICU. In this article, we presented the data of an Italian study, a multicenter study, evaluating consecutive patients, with an objective diagnosis of sepsis treated in internal medicine units.