ABSTRACT
Sepsis is life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Research has led to a tremendous increase in the understanding of sepsis on multiple scales, ranging from molecular to whole organ. Despite this simple-sounding approach, care of the septic patient is complex, and the most recent Surviving Sepsis campaign guidelines for the management of sepsis include 93 statements on the early management and resuscitation of sepsis and septic shock. The Surviving Sepsis campaign initially instituted the concept of sepsis bundles in 2004, containing a 6-hour resuscitation bundle with six elements and a 24-hour management bundle with four elements. The largest of these examined 29,740 patients in 218 hospitals over 7 years and demonstrated that for every quarter that a site participated in the Surviving Sepsis campaign, mortality went down by 0.7%.
