The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa
<br><strong>Background. <br></strong>Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the incidence appears to be increasing. In the resource-limited environment in low- and middle-income countries, the management of surgical sepsis (SS) continues to repres...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Health and Medical Publishing Group
2017
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| _version_ | 1826269041858183168 |
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| author | Green, S Kong, VY Clarke, DL Sartorius, B Odendaal, J Bruce, JL Laing, GL Brysiewicz, P Bekker, W Harknett, E |
| author_facet | Green, S Kong, VY Clarke, DL Sartorius, B Odendaal, J Bruce, JL Laing, GL Brysiewicz, P Bekker, W Harknett, E |
| author_sort | Green, S |
| collection | OXFORD |
| description | <br><strong>Background. <br></strong>Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the incidence appears to be increasing. In the resource-limited environment in low- and middle-income countries, the management of surgical sepsis (SS) continues to represent a significant portion of the workload for most general surgeons.
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Objective. <br></strong>To describe the spectrum of SS seen at a busy emergency department, and categorise the outcomes.
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Methods. <br></strong>The Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service (PMTS) and Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Surgical Service (PMSS) in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa (SA), maintain a prospective electronic registry. All patients with features of sepsis among emergency general surgical patients >15 years of age admitted to the PMSS over the period January 2012 - January 2015 were identified. From this cohort, all patients with sepsis that required surgical source control or who had a documented surgical source of sepsis (i.e. had SS) were selected for analysis.
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Results. <br></strong>Of a total of 6 020 adult surgical patients on the database, a cohort of 1 240 acute surgical patients with features of sepsis were identified, and 675 with SS were then analysed further. Of the 675 patients, 49.2% were male, and the mean age was 46 years (standard deviation (SD) 19); 47.0% presented to the PMSS directly from within the metropolitan area, while the remaining 53.0% were referred from hospitals outside the area. Physiological parameters (mean values) on presentation were as follows: systolic blood pressure 123 mmHg (standard deviation (SD) 23), respiratory rate 22 breaths/min (SD 5.2), heart rate 107 bpm (SD 19), temperature 37°C (SD 2) and white cell count 20 × 109/L (SD 8). Of the patients, 21.6% were known to be HIV-positive, 13.5% (91/675) were negative and 64.9% were of unknown status; 57.6% had intra-abdominal sepsis, 26.1% diabetes-related limb sepsis and the remaining 16.3% soft-tissue infections; 17.5% required intensive care unit admission, with a mean length of stay of 4 days (SD 4), and 30.7% developed complications. In this last group (n=207), a total of 313 morbidities were identified. The overall mortality rate was 12.7% (86/675). The mortality rate for intra-abdominal sepsis was 13.1%, for diabetic foot sepsis 14.2% and for necrotising fasciitis 27.3%.
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Conclusions. <br></strong>The spectrum of SS in SA is different to that seen in the developed world. Intra-abdominal sepsis is the most common SS and is overwhelmingly caused by acute appendicitis. Diabetic foot infection is a major cause of SS, reflecting the increasing burden of non-communicable chronic diseases in SA. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:18:51Z |
| format | Journal article |
| id | oxford-uuid:40bf87f5-d463-4ff4-83f3-c2fb8e101f7d |
| institution | University of Oxford |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-06T21:18:51Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Health and Medical Publishing Group |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | oxford-uuid:40bf87f5-d463-4ff4-83f3-c2fb8e101f7d2022-03-26T14:39:37ZThe spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South AfricaJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:40bf87f5-d463-4ff4-83f3-c2fb8e101f7dEnglishSymplectic ElementsHealth and Medical Publishing Group2017Green, SKong, VYClarke, DLSartorius, BOdendaal, JBruce, JLLaing, GLBrysiewicz, PBekker, WHarknett, E<br><strong>Background. <br></strong>Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide, and the incidence appears to be increasing. In the resource-limited environment in low- and middle-income countries, the management of surgical sepsis (SS) continues to represent a significant portion of the workload for most general surgeons. <br><strong> Objective. <br></strong>To describe the spectrum of SS seen at a busy emergency department, and categorise the outcomes. <br><strong> Methods. <br></strong>The Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Trauma Service (PMTS) and Pietermaritzburg Metropolitan Surgical Service (PMSS) in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa (SA), maintain a prospective electronic registry. All patients with features of sepsis among emergency general surgical patients >15 years of age admitted to the PMSS over the period January 2012 - January 2015 were identified. From this cohort, all patients with sepsis that required surgical source control or who had a documented surgical source of sepsis (i.e. had SS) were selected for analysis. <br><strong> Results. <br></strong>Of a total of 6 020 adult surgical patients on the database, a cohort of 1 240 acute surgical patients with features of sepsis were identified, and 675 with SS were then analysed further. Of the 675 patients, 49.2% were male, and the mean age was 46 years (standard deviation (SD) 19); 47.0% presented to the PMSS directly from within the metropolitan area, while the remaining 53.0% were referred from hospitals outside the area. Physiological parameters (mean values) on presentation were as follows: systolic blood pressure 123 mmHg (standard deviation (SD) 23), respiratory rate 22 breaths/min (SD 5.2), heart rate 107 bpm (SD 19), temperature 37°C (SD 2) and white cell count 20 × 109/L (SD 8). Of the patients, 21.6% were known to be HIV-positive, 13.5% (91/675) were negative and 64.9% were of unknown status; 57.6% had intra-abdominal sepsis, 26.1% diabetes-related limb sepsis and the remaining 16.3% soft-tissue infections; 17.5% required intensive care unit admission, with a mean length of stay of 4 days (SD 4), and 30.7% developed complications. In this last group (n=207), a total of 313 morbidities were identified. The overall mortality rate was 12.7% (86/675). The mortality rate for intra-abdominal sepsis was 13.1%, for diabetic foot sepsis 14.2% and for necrotising fasciitis 27.3%. <br><strong> Conclusions. <br></strong>The spectrum of SS in SA is different to that seen in the developed world. Intra-abdominal sepsis is the most common SS and is overwhelmingly caused by acute appendicitis. Diabetic foot infection is a major cause of SS, reflecting the increasing burden of non-communicable chronic diseases in SA. |
| spellingShingle | Green, S Kong, VY Clarke, DL Sartorius, B Odendaal, J Bruce, JL Laing, GL Brysiewicz, P Bekker, W Harknett, E The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title | The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title_full | The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title_short | The spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa |
| title_sort | spectrum and outcome of surgical sepsis in pietermaritzburg south africa |
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