Management of sepsis in Covid-19 patients: how is it different?

As September begins, it will be important to keep in mind that it’s Sepsis Awareness Month, International Guidelines for the Treatment of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016 direct sepsis care, there are some caveats to the rules for the care of patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) who develop sepsis. In fact, specific guidelines for the management of critically in poor health patients with Covid-19 were published in June 2020. The most vital difference within the care of patients with COVID-19 and sepsis is advice number 9:

In a recent conversation with Anne Dabrow Woods, chief nursing officer at Wolters Kluwer, Health Learning, Research & Practice; professor at Drexel University; and demanding care nurse at Penn Medicine, Chester County Hospital, we delved somewhat deeper into the subject of fluid resuscitation for COVID-19. Here are some highlights from our conversation:

Listen to our full conversation here; we discuss all the most recent updates on treating critically in poor health patients with COVID-19. Also, take a look at these resource centers to learn more about sepsis and COVID-19.

Alhazzani, W., Moller, M., Arabi, Y., Loeb, M., Gong, M., Fan, E.,…Rhodes, A., (2020). Survive Sepsis Campaign: Guidelines for the management of critically in poor health adults with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Intensive Care Medicine, 48(6), e440-e469. https://www.doi.org/10.1097/CCM.0000000000004363

Rhodes, A., Evans, L., Alhazzani, W., Levy, M., Antonelli, M., Ferrer, R., . . . Dellinger, R. (2017). Surviving Sepsis Campaign: International Guidelines for the Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2016. 486-452. https://www.doi.org/10.1097/CCM.00000000000002255

Woods, A. (2020). Latest updates in COVID-19 management. Lippincott NursingCenter. https://www.nursingcenter.com/journals-articles/podcast-library/latest-updates-in-covid-management