Treating And Diagnosing Sepsis

Sepsis is life-threatening! Ladies, it means your body had an unusual reaction to an infection. Your body should have released infecting-fighting chemicals. But if this release is unbalanced? You'll get sepsis! This condition damages your organs. It can kill you if your blood pressure drops to the point of septic shock. There are a few at-risk groups for sepsis. They're seniors, young kids, those with poor immune systems, and pregnant ladies!

There's good news, though. Sepsis is treatable! Ladies, you'll get emergency sepsis treatment at a hospital. IV broad-spectrum antibiotics are up first! You'll get other intravenous fluids for sepsis in less than 3 hours. Specific sepsis antibiotics come after things like blood tests for sepsis. Surgery for sepsis is on the table too! And ladies? Don't forget to seek out supportive care for sepsis!

Antibiotics

Antibiotics are a major sepsis treatment. Ladies, broad antibiotics are the first treatment course you'll get for this! Their goal is to destroy the harmful bacteria causing your infection. You need broad ones first because they fight many different types of bacteria! IV antibiotics are used in the hospital. It's an emergency, after all! While you're getting them, ladies, doctors are going to do the tests they need to do. They'll find out what specific type of bacteria caused your sepsis!

Once they do that, you'll get the antibiotics to fight the right bacteria. They will be even more powerful! Remember to finish all of the antibiotics you're given, ladies. Not doing that means some bacteria will be left behind! This will make fighting the infection harder next time.

Intravenous Fluids

Intravenous (IV) fluids are one of the first two sepsis treatments! Ladies, you'll get IV fluids within 3 hours of being at the hospital for sepsis. They will stop your blood pressure from dropping too much! You aren't likely going to go into shock. IV fluids are so important for a couple reasons, ladies. IV fluids are going to lessen the damage from sepsis. They're also going to let doctors track exactly how much fluid they've given you.

Doctors will even control what fluids you're getting! Saline is the most common. It's made of water and sodium! Sodium is an electrolyte, and it's going to help your body absorb the fluid. Colloids are another type of IV fluid. They're thicker than saline and don't dissolve as fast. You might need some saline still, though. That's because you need to maintain balance in your body!

Vasopressors

You won't receive vasopressors first for sepsis. They come into play if you're still having problems with your blood pressure after getting an IV! Ladies, these meds are going to narrow your blood vessels. This drives your pressure up! They're only used when you have dangerously low blood pressure. You'll usually only get them for sepsis if you're in critical condition at the hospital! They're going to prevent organ damage. They'll even do that for other serious sepsis complications! After all, blood pressure that stays too low for too long is what triggers these! You might get vasopressors with other meds to help them be even more effective.