A Comparison of Residents’ Knowledge Regarding the Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2012 Guideline

BACKGROUND: Recently, Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC) guideline was updated. Our objective was to evaluate the knowledge of residents in different departments regarding the SSC 2012. METHODS: A cross-sectional, descriptive self-questionnaire was distributed to interns and residents in the Departments of Internal Medicine, Surgery, and Emergency Medicine. RESULTS: The response rate was 136 (89%) from 153 residents. The residents included 46 (33%) interns, 42 (31%) internal medicine residents, 41 (30%) surgical residents, and 7 (5%) emergency residents. Regarding the definitions of severe sepsis and septic shock, only 44 (32.4%) residents were able to differentiate the severity of sepsis. The surgical residents had a significantly lower rate of correct answers than that of internal medicine residents (12.2% vs. 45.2, P = 0.001), emergency residents (12.2% vs. 57.1%, P = 0.005), and interns (12.2% vs. 34.8%, P = 0.014). Only 77 (51.5%) residents would measure blood lactate in patients with sepsis. In respect to the dose of fluid resuscitation, only 72 (52.9%) residents gave the recommended fluid (30 ml/kg) within the first 3 h. Surgical residents had a significantly lesser percentage of correct answers than that of internal medicine residents (29.3% vs. 69%, P < 0.0001) and interns (29.3% vs. 60.8%, P = 0.003). About 123 (90.4%) and 115 (84.6%) residents knew the appropriate targets for mean arterial pressure and vasopressors, respectively. Most residents could give antimicrobial drugs (73.5%) and steroids (93.4%) appropriately in the treatment of patients with septic shock. However, only half of the residents knew the target range of blood sugar control in patients with sepsis. CONCLUSIONS: Our residents’ knowledge about the SSC 2012 is not satisfactory. Further instruction concerning sepsis management is required.