Role of Sepsis-3 Criteria and C-Reactive Protein in the Diagnosis of Sepsis in Critically ill Patients

Introduction: In the recent days, large proportion of the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) admissions ending in poor outcomes is impacted by pathological conditions like sepsis and septic shock. Hence, early diagnosis and appropriate therapy within the first hours of hospital admission plays a major role. Simple markers like C-Reactive Protein (CRP), Erythrocyte Sedimentation Rate (ESR), blood counts are still relied upon for suspected sepsis cases. Aim: To study the prevalence of sepsis and to evaluate the utility of the simple ideal markers like CRP, ESR, and blood counts for early diagnosis of sepsis in critically ill patients. Materials and Methods: This was a prospective observational study performed in the ICU of KMCH Institute of Allied Health Sciences, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India, using 112 blood samples collected from patients admitted with clinical suspicion of sepsis. The samples were subjected to CRP estimation using turbidimetric immunoassay and blood culture. The data obtained were analysed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software version 21.0. The sensitivity, specificity, negative and positive predictive values were calculated. Results: Among a total of 112, the number of patients who abided the sepsis-3 definitions with positive qSOFA (quick Sepsis related Organ Failure Assessment) score was 50%. The most common comorbid condition among the sepsis patients were diabetes mellitus (39.2%). The most frequent site of infection was respiratory tract (37.5%). Majority of infections were by gram-negative organisms (82%), the commonly isolated gram negative organisms were Klebsiella pneumoniae (25.9%) and Escherichia coli (25.9%). The sensitivity of CRP was 81% and specificity was 49% while the Positive Predictive Value (PPV) and Negative Predictive Value (NPV) was 60% and 56%, respectively. The prevalence of sepsis in present study was 50%. Conclusion: The study highlights the usefulness of CRP in identifying patients with sepsis in those who present with positive qSOFA score. Also, CRP could be very useful in resource-limited places, where newer biomarkers and guidance of an intensivist or sepsis expert are not available.