Changes in intensive care unit management over time can greatly reduce patients' risk of sepsis, according to research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Researchers in Australia in New Zealand tracked severe sepsis and sepsis shock rates in ICUs in those countries between 2000 and 2012.
During those 12 years, mortality from severe sepsis decreased from 35 percent to 18.4 percent, a 1.3 percent annual decline. The relative risk of contracting sepsis decreased by nearly half. Improvements in mortality rates occurred across all ICU patients and were not limited to those with a sepsis diagnosis, according to the article.
Authors noted the across-the-board decline in mortality rates indicated that overall changes in ICU management, rather than sepsis-reduction practices, were responsible for the improvements.
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