Community-Acquired Sepsis: Retrospective Evaluation of 125 Cases

Abstract

Introduction: There are only a few studies regarding community-acquired sepsis and its epidemiology. We aimed to evaluate the cases diagnosed as community-acquired sepsis and followed in our clinic. Patients and Methods: In this study, epidemiological and clinical features of 125 adult patients with community-acquired sepsis followed in our clinic during the period 1989-2005 were retrospectively evaluated. Results: The mean age was 52.7 years; 58 patients (46.4%) were male and 67 (53.6%) were female. Anatomic site of infections included urinary tract in 56 patients (45%), respiratory system in 23 (18%), intraabdominal in 12 (9.6%), and skin and soft tissue in 6 (5%). No anatomic site of infection was found in 28 (22.4%) patients. Of the blood culture isolates, 64% were gram-negative bacteria. In-hospital mortality was 30% in patients with sepsis. The mortality rate was found to be 4.25% in 47 patients with sepsis, while it was 35.9% in 78 patients with severe sepsis on admission (p< 0.001). Conclusion: New and large studies are needed to understand the epidemiology of community-acquired sepsis