Introduction: Septic shock is the most common type of shock encountered by internists and is the most common cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units. In the 2012 Surviving Sepsis Campaign, one recommendation is antibiotic administration within three hours from sepsis recognition. Several large-scale studies challenged this recommendation with contrasting results. The researchers aim to determine the impact of early antibiotic therapy (EAT) on mortality and outcome of patients and to determine institutional compliance to current sepsis recommendations. Methods: This retrospective single center study included septic patients at the emergency room from February 2013 to January 2015 and were grouped into the EAT group (lesser than or equal to three hours) and control group (more than three hours) antibiotic initiation from sepsis recognition). Primary outcomes are in-hospital mortality, time-to-antibiotics and extraction of blood culture prior to antibiotics. Secondary outcomes include length of hospital stay, use of vasopressors and mechanical ventilation and development of sepsis-related complications. Results: Two-hundred sixty-one patients were included with 53.26% overall mortality rate. The overall mean timeto-antibiotics is 355.1 minutes and time-to-blood culture is 434.64 minutes. Mean time-to-antibiotics were 115 and 556 minutes in the EAT and control group respectively. Mortality was significantly higher in the control group (43.7% vs. 61.3%, p=0.006). For the sepsis related complications, development of acute kidney injury (p=0.033) was higher in the EAT group and acute respiratory failure (p=0.009) was significantly increased in the control group. Conclusion Antibiotic administration within three hours from sepsis recognition significantly reduced in-hospital mortality. Timing of antibiotics and collection of blood cultures were delayed compared to current recommendations. Among the sepsis-related complications, prolonged time-to-antibiotics (>3 hours) is associated with risk of developing acute respiratory failure and subsequent need for mechanical ventilation.
Early antibiotic therapy ; Shock, Septic ; Sepsis ; Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome