ASN lectures podcast

Limited information exists on the organisational structures, resources, clinical standards, laboratory support, and therapeutic options available in the Asia Pacific region to treat sepsis. The Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance (APSA) a regional network of the Global Sepsis Alliance (GSA) conducted a survey across the Asia Pacific. This presentation discusses the results which aim to inform healthcare systems, policymakers and governments to facilitate improvements in sepsis care.

Caitlin will tell her story of life-threatening sepsis that was triggered by an infected wisdom tooth, the diagnostic challenges, her road to recovery and insights into what’s needed to improve awareness, recognition and support for sepsis survivors.

A retrospective longitudinal study of a national administrative dataset to estimate trends in sepsis hospitalisations and associated cost in Australia using ICD-10-AM codes and AR-DRGs.

Despite the advances of modern critical care, there is remarkably little that has been demonstrated to change the trajectory of septic shock. We still rely on early recognition, good supportive care and appropriate antimicrobials to help these patients. This talk will focus on why these therapies are still the mainstays and how we need to work hard to ensure that in the near future – novel therapies and complex supportive care mechanisms such as ECMO can help the sickest patients.

The history of the treatment for sepsis focussing on early resuscitation strategies, the role of early goal-directed therapy and protocolled resuscitation strategies for patients with sepsis and future directions for strategies for improving mortality and reducing morbidity related to resuscitating patients who have sepsis.

The definition of sepsis is remarkably simple but has been the subject of sometimes acrimonious debate. This arising from confusing a definition with diagnostic criteria. This talk is focused on the practical needs of clinicians to rapidly recognise and treat a time-critical clinical condition without being bogged down in semantics.

The aim of this research was to estimate the incidence and outcomes of sepsis hospitalisations in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous adults in Australia’s most populous state, New South Wales (NSW). This was a prospective cohort study of residents aged 45 years and older, recruited between 2006 and 2009 and followed for hospitalisation for sepsis. We measured the incidence and hazard ratio (HR) of sepsis hospitalisation and ICU admission. Sepsis was identified using the International Classification of Diseases (10thRevision) coding on hospital discharge data. We found sepsis hospitalisation is higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults, but much of this excess risk attenuated after adjusting for sociodemographic risk factors. Culturally appropriate, community-led strategies targeting chronic disease prevention and the social determinants of health may reduce this gap.