- Sepsis By Food Contamination
- A Reoccurring Problem Can Be Sepsis
- Internal And External Symptoms Of Sepsis
- The Causes Of Sepsis
- Information About Sepsis
- Diagnosis And Treatment Of Sepsis
- Some Facts About Sepsis
- Sepsis And The Way It Infects The Children
- cmedicine health weblog
Diagnosis And Treatment Of Sepsis
We all know that sepsis is hard to detect in its early stages. This is because of its symptoms being unusually alike to various other more commonly found diseases. The test of sepsis is ordered by doctors only when the more serious symptoms like a high increase in fever along with breathing problems crop up. The preliminary tests include the check for bacteria content in the urine and the blood samples of the patient. Other conformation tests include the check for huge deviation in the number of WBC (white blood corpuscles).
The blood samples are checked by keeping them in the laboratory where the bacteria is provided with the conditions in which it may grow. After a gestation period of one or two days, the blood sample is checked. If the bacterium is found, sepsis can be confirmed. This test can fail if the patient has been taken anti bacterial medicines which prohibit their growth leading to their reduced values. Hence the blood test is not a confirmatory test for sepsis. Excretions in the form of cough and urine are taken which are for further analysis. They too are checked for the bacterial content as they are in touch with the inner organs which get directly affected in sepsis.
Apart from these broad tests, some specific tests may be conducted which are in accordance to the direct result of sepsis. Because the organs are affected, the areas around the organs are checked for abnormalities. This includes checking for the presence of lactic acid which is produced due to lack of oxygen by the organs making the blood acidic. This is a consequence of the fact that the blood pressure decreases and the heart is unable to pump the right amounts of blood to different parts of the body. The heart beat rate is checked for rapidness. If too rapid, there are chances of stroke which can be fatal. The level of platelets falls even though clots may be witnessed in abnormal places.
If the presence of sepsis is felt by the doctors, the patient is immediately put on the medicinal treatment required. Antibiotics are made available. If the situation is an aggravated one, admission in the ICU becomes necessary. Once the exact location and the type of bacteria are known, drugs which are specifically designed to destroy them are prescribed. If the scans show some tissues to be dead, they are removed through surgery to avoid any side effects that it might cause to the other tissues present alongside.
Apart from the treatment that is made available to kill the bacteria, measures taken to keep the body under control include injection of fluids inside the body to keep the blood pressure normal to avoid damage to the heart. The blood vessels which have dilated are narrowed with the help of medicines like dopamine. The level of oxygen intake is increased by oxygen masks which compensated for the lack of oxygen being faced. Proteins may be prescribed to reduce body inflammation.