Overall mortality rates in septic shock improved in the 10 years after the Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines were introduced in 2004, a study published in CHEST found.
The campaign focused on improving outcomes in patients with sepsis and septic shock.
The 10-year study used the 2004 to 2014 Nationwide Inpatient Sample databases and included patients with a primary diagnosis of septic shock at discharge. The researchers looked at patient outcomes such as overall in-hospital mortality and percentage of patients discharged home.
The study found in-hospital mortality decreased from 51.7 percent to 39.3 percent from 2004 to 2014. The researchers found no significant differences in how often patients were discharged home or differences in how often patients were discharged to long-term care facilities when comparing the two time periods.
"The overall mortality in septic shock improved in the decade following the introduction of the [campaign] guidelines," the researchers concluded.