Sepsis is a constellation of clinical findings in the setting of bacterial infection of the bloodstream. The clinical findings are the result of a body-wide inflammatory state referred to as Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS), and include elevated heart rate (over 90 beats per minute), elevated respiratory rate (over 20 breaths per minute), alteration of body temperature (hypothermia or fever), and alteration of white blood cell count (either decreased or elevated). Septic shock is the presence of sepsis with associated low blood pressure, while severe sepsis includes dysfunction of multiple organ systems. Blood culture and sensitivity test for the offending organism and potential treatments. The inflammatory milieu of septic shock can lead to respiratory failure necessitating tracheotomy. Hypotension combined with respiratory failure create a state of relatively low oxygenation to the brain. The hypoxic damage to the brain, combined with the effects of toxic metabolic products, lead to severe neurologic dysfunction and, potentially, death.
Sepsis medical expert witness specialties include infectious disease, pediatric infectious disease, hospitalist medicine, pediatric hospitalist medicine, forensic pathology, and pulmonology.