Sepsis contributes to up to half of all hospital deaths in the United States, even though it is only found in a tenth of all admitted patients, according to a study presented at the American Thoracic Society's annual conference.
Researchers conducted analysis of 6.5 million hospital discharge records in 2010 from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project. They then identified hospital admissions and deaths of patients with sepsis using diagnosis and procedure codes.
In addition to finding that as many as one in two patients who died in hospitals had sepsis, the study also showed that sepsis patients had a hospital mortality rate of 10.4 percent, much higher than the 1.1 percent mortality rate for patients who did not have sepsis.
"The results of our study suggest that improved care for sepsis patients of all severity levels and in all hospital settings could result in many future lives saved," said Vincent Liu, MD, the study's lead author, in a news release.
Getting sepsis under control can also produce a major cost savings, as it is the most expensive cause of hospitalization in the nation, accounting for more than $24 billion annually, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
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