ICU learning pathway | Assessment and Differential Diagnosis of Sepsis

Assessment and Differential Diagnosis of Sepsis
Session Overview
Description
This session describes how to assess a patient with suspected sepsis and recognize the differential diagnoses in suspected sepsis both on admission to hospital and in hospital.

By the end of this session you will be able to:

• Explain the assessment and differential diagnosis of a patient with suspected sepsis
• Describe the initial investigation of a patient with suspected sepsis

Before commencing this session you should complete:

• Septic Shock (001-0332)

Patients with sepsis present in a number of different ways. Sometimes the diagnosis is obvious, at other times it is not.

Initial assessment of a patient with suspected sepsis can be divided into four elements:

• ABC assessment and initial resuscitation
• Identification of specific signs and symptoms of sepsis. These can be both generic to all forms of sepsis or specific to a particular diagnosis
• Identification of organ dysfunction
• Initial investigations