Millions of people die each year from sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis is defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection (JAMA 2016;315:801-10).
The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) formed in 2002 as a joint collaboration of the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM). The campaign's mission is the reduction of morbidity and mortality from sepsis and septic shock worldwide. In October 2021, the SSC released their 5th edition of International Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock (Crit Care Med 2021;49:e1063-1143).Previous versions were released in 2004, 2008, 2012, and 2016 (Crit Care Med 2021;49:1974-82). Overall, there are 93 statements in the updated guidelines. Fifteen of the statements are strong recommendations, 54 are weak recommendations, 15 are best practice statements, and nine statements make no recommendation regarding a specific intervention...