Quality improvement in pediatric sepsis

Purpose of review Although there is abundant literature detailing the impact of quality improvement in adult sepsis, the pediatric literature is lacking. Despite consensus definitions for sepsis, which patients along the sepsis spectrum should receive aggressive management and the exact onset of sepsis ('time zero') are not clearly established. In the adult emergency department (ED), sepsis onset is defined as the time of entry into the ED; however, this definition cannot be applied to hospitalized patients or patients who evolve during their ED course. Since the time of sepsis onset will dictate the timeliness of subsequent process measures, the variable definitions in the literature make it difficult to generalize findings among prior studies. Recent findings Despite the variation in defining time zero, aggressive fluid administration, timely antibiotics, and compliance with sepsis bundles have been shown to improve mortality and to reduce hospital and intensive care length of stay. In addition, early identification tools show promise in beginning to define sepsis onset and retrospective search tools may allow improved case finding of those children of concern for sepsis. Summary Quality improvement in pediatric sepsis is evolving. As we continue to define quality measures, we must standardize the definition of sepsis onset. This definition should be applicable to any treatment venue to ensure measures can be evaluated across all settings. In addition, we must delineate which patients along the sepsis spectrum should be candidates for timely interventions and standardize other outcome measures beyond mortality.