IMPACT OF TIME TO ANTIBIOTICS ON MORTALITY IN SEVERE SEPSIS AND SEPTIC SHOCK

YUSUF SAVRAN¹, YAKUP DURAN², BILGIN COMERT³

¹Department of Internal Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir - ²Department of Internal Medicine, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir - ³Department of Medical Intensive Care Unit, Dokuz Eylul University Faculty of Medicine, Izmir, Turkey

Introduction: Severe sepsis and septic shock are associated with high mortality. Antibiotherapy must be started as early as possible since it seems to be the most important factor determining survival. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the time intervals between diagnosis and first dose of antibiotherapy and its impact on mortality in severe sepsis and septic shock patients.

Materials and methods: Medical records of adult patients (≥18 years old) admitted to medical ICU of a 1200-bed university hospital in Izmir,Turkey with the diagnosis of severe sepsis and septic shock between January 1,2010 and June 30,2014 were evaluated retrospectively. The patients admitted with other diagnosis than severe sepsis and septic shock and patients having an advanced stage of malignancy were excluded.

Results: One hundred and ten patients were identified fullfilling the inclusion criteria. 49(44.5%) patients were female and 61(55.5%) were male. Average age of the patients was 74,3±11,6. Average time from diagnosis of sepsis or septic shock to first dose of antibiotherapy was identified to be 6,9±4,7 hours. Patients were classified into two groups according to application of first dose of antibiotherapy (early