Association between lactate levels and appropriateness of empiric antibiotic treatment in septic patients in the intensive care unit

Abstract

Introduction: Sepsis is a major health issue nowadays. A massive progress has been done since the creation of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign in 2001 in terms of diagnosis, management and outcome, but there still is a long way to go. Still between 10 and 30 per cent of prescribed empirical antibiotics in the ICU are inappropriate (1). It has been proven that inappropriateness of empiric antibiotic treatment is independently associated with a higher mortality (2). Objectives: The goal of this study is to determine if there is an independent association between lactate measurements 24h after diagnosis of sepsis (lactate normalization and lactate clearance) and appropriateness of antibacterial treatment. In order to contribute to reduce the rate of patients receiving inappropriate empiric antibiotics. Methodology: Longitudinal prospective cohort performed in the ICU of the third level teaching facility, Hospital Josep Trueta, in Girona. The study will be performed between 2016 and 2019. Participants: All patients with a community-acquired sepsis or septic shock admitted in the ICU between January 2017 and December 2019