Postinjury Sepsis—Associations With Risk Factors, Impact on Clinical Course, and Mortality: A Retrospective Observational Study

OBJECTIVES: Overall outcomes for trauma patients have improved over time. However, mortality for postinjury sepsis has been reported to be unchanged. Estimate incidence of and risk factors for sepsis in ICU patients after major trauma and the association between sepsis, mortality, and clinical course. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PATIENTS: ICU in a large urban trauma center in Sweden with a well-developed trauma system. Retrospective cohort study of trauma patients admitted to the ICU for more than 24 hours were included. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Primary outcome measure was 30-day mortality. Secondary outcomes were 1-year mortality and impact on clinical course. In total, 722 patients with a median Injury Severity Score of 26 (interquartile range, 18–38) were included. Incidence of sepsis was 22%. Septic patients had a four-fold increase in length of stay and need for organ supportive therapy. The overall 30-day mortality rate was 9.3%. After exclusion of early trauma-related deaths in the first 48 hours, the 30-day mortality rate was 6.7%. There was an association between sepsis and this adjusted 30-day mortality (day 3 odds ratio, 2.1 [95% CI, 1.1–3.9]; day 4 odds ratio, 3.1 [95% CI, 1.5–6.1]; day 5 odds ratio, 3.0 [95% CI, 1.4–6.2]). Septic patients had a 1-year mortality of 17.7% (nonseptic 11.0%). Development of sepsis was independently associated with age, spine and chest injury, shock, red cell transfusion, and positive blood alcohol concentration at admission. The risk of sepsis increased, in a dose-dependent manner, with the number of transfusions. CONCLUSIONS: Postinjury sepsis was associated with a complicated clinical course and with mortality after exclusion of early, trauma-related deaths.