TREATING SEPSIS

A 75 year old male presents with hypotension, pyrexia and leucocytosis. Presumed diagnosis - sepsis, cause unknown.

Broad spectrum coverage is required, to cover gram positives, gram negatives and pseudomonas. Suggested modalities are:

Combining either antipseudomonal cephalosporin (ceftazidine) or antipseudomonal penicillin (piperacillin + azobactam) (particularly if anaerobes are suspected) with either an aminoglycoside (gentamycin or amikacin) or a fluoroquinolone (ciprofloxacin). If an antipseudomonal cephalosporin is used and anaerobes are a possible cause, the addition of metronidazole or clindamycin should be considered.

Piperacillin+Tazobactam/Imipenem + Gentamycin/Ciprofloxacin

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