Serum lactate cut-offs as a risk stratification tool for in-hospital adverse outcomes in emergency department patients screened for suspected sepsis

OBJECTIVES: We investigated specific lactate thresholds for adverse outcomes in patients presenting to emergency departments (EDs) with suspected sepsis identified based on the performance of a sepsis screening algorithm. DESIGN AND SETTING: A standardised sepsis bundle was implemented across public hospitals in New South Wales, Australia, as a quality improvement initiative. A register of all adult ED presentations (≥18 years) meeting predefined criteria for sepsis was created, using a combination of data linkage and direct reporting from 97 participating sites. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 12 349 adult ED presentations with 8310 (67.3%) having serum lactate analysis on arrival. Analysis of outcomes was based on dataset for 12 349 subjects obtained through multiple imputation for missing data. INTERVENTIONS: A sepsis management bundle including early antibiotic prescribing, fluid therapy and referral to intensive care unit (ICU) services was implemented. OUTCOME MEASURES: A primary composite adverse event (AE) outcome of inhospital mortality (IHM) and/or prolonged ICU stay ≥72 hours (ICU 72 hours) was used for this study. RESULTS: There was statistically significant increase both in the ORs of AE and IHM with each integer increase in serum lactate values. After adjusting for the presence of hypotension, the estimated ORs for the combined AE outcome were 2.71 (95% CI 2.05 to 3.57), 2.65 (95% CI 2.29 to 3.08), 3.10 (95% CI 2.71 to 3.53) and 3.89 (95% CI 3.36 to 4.50) for serum lactate levels at or above 1, 2, 3 and 4 mmol/L, respectively. The corresponding ORs for IHM were 2.93 (95% CI 2.08 to 4.13), 2.77 (95% CI 2.34 to 3.29), 3.26 (95% CI 2.80 to 3.80) and 4.01 (95% CI 3.40 to 4.73), respectively (all P<0.0001). More than 10% of patients with suspected sepsis and with serum lactate ≥2 mmol/L experienced a prolonged ICU stay or died in hospital. CONCLUSIONS: ED sepsis screening algorithms intended to identify patient adverse outcomes should incorporate a serum lactate cut-off of ≥2 mmol/L as a threshold for the initiation of specific interventions and increased monitoring.