• Anders Perner, Sarah Carlsen, Klaus Marcussen, Nikolaj Wesche, Morten Steensen, Joakim Hidestål, and Tina Waldau.
• Intensiv Terapiklinik 4131, Rigshospitalet, DK-2100 København Ø, Denmark. anders.perner@rh.regionh.dk
• Ugeskr. Laeg. 2010 Apr 19;172(16):1206-10.

IntroductionPatients in septic shock have a 33-42% 30-day mortality, but characteristics and outcome have not been assessed in Danish intensive care units (ICUs).Material And MethodsThis is a cohort study with prospective registration over a 3-month period of all patients suffering from septic shock at six Danish ICUs. We registered admission-, disease- and treatment characteristics during the first day after the diagnosis and 30- and 90-day mortality.ResultsA total of 132 patients with a median age of 64 years (range 15-92 years) were included. Patients were primarily admitted from general wards (n = 56), operation- (31) and emergency rooms (25) and other hospitals (19). Most were diagnosed at ICU admittance. Abdominal focus of infection was most frequent (n = 47) followed by pneumonia (45), soft tissue (14), urinary tract (8), other (6) and unknown (11). Most patients were resuscitated with a combination of crystalloids and colloids (98) and noradrenalin (119), and 100 had broad-spectrum antibiotics prior to the diagnosis, while 27 received such medication 120 (2-450) mins. after diagnosis. Mortality at 30 and 90 days was 33 and 41%, respectively - and highest for patients with abdominal infection 42 and 55%, respectively.ConclusionPatients in septic shock in Danish ICUs are admitted from different hospital locations, have abdominal or pulmonary foci, but the treatment is relatively uniform. The mortality is high, but at par with the best results from other countries.

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