Development of a novel bedside index for the early identification of severe maternal infection

International consensus reports have recently recommended that the Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) criteria for the diagnosis of sepsis should cease and that new bedside criteria need to be developed to improve prevention, early diagnosis and treatment. The aim of this retrospective audit was to evaluate a suite of four bedside clinical criteria, called the Early Maternal Infection Prompts (EMIP), in helping to identify women with a suspected severe infection who were admitted to a High Dependency Unit (HDU) in a large tertiary referral stand-alone maternity hospital. The audit confirmed that this bedside index has potential in helping to identify maternal infection early before sepsis develops. Prospective studies are required to evaluate the index in different settings, for different infections and at the different stages of maternal infection.

Source: Current Awareness Service for Health (CASH) - March 27, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Source Type: news