Even though most septic shock patients survive their hospital stay, their readmission rate sits at 23 percent, much higher than the average readmission rate, according to a Penn Medicine study.
Septic shock — the most severe form of sepsis — is a response to a bacterial bloodstream infection that can result in multi-system organ failure and death.
Penn Medicine researchers studied data from 269 patients admitted to one University of Pennsylvania Health System hospital with septic shock who were discharged to a non-hospice setting between 2007 and 2010.
In 78 percent of cases, they found the cause of readmission was related to the initial sepsis hospitalization. Other complications included new conditions, like cardiovascular illness or blood clots. One in six of the readmissions led to death or transition to hospice, according to the study.
"Our hope is that these findings will give a new urgency to the need for better patient education regarding the signs of a recurrent infection and common reasons for readmission in addition to improved discharge planning to keep these patients healthy and form returning to the hospital," said Mark Mikkelsen, MD, senior author and associate director of the Medical Intensive Care Unit and assistant professor of pulmonary, allergy and critical care medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.