Characteristics and outcomes of bacteremia among ICU-admitted patients with severe sepsis

Komori, Akira; Abe, Toshikazu; Kushimoto, Shigeki; Ogura, Hiroshi; Shiraishi, Atsushi; Saitoh, Daizoh; Fujishima, Seitaro; Mayumi, Toshihiko; Naito, Toshio; Hifumi, Toru; Shiino, Yasukazu; Nakada, Taka-aki; Tarui, Takehiko; Otomo, Yasuhiro; Okamoto, Kohji; Umemura, Yutaka; Kotani, Joji; Sakamoto, Yuichiro; Sasaki, Junichi; Shiraishi, Shin-ichiro; Takuma, Kiyotsugu; Tsuruta, Ryosuke; Hagiwara, Akiyoshi; Yamakawa, Kazuma; Masuno, Tomohiko; Takeyama, Naoshi; Yamashita, Norio; Ikeda, Hiroto; Ueyama, Masashi; Fujimi, Satoshi; Gando, Satoshi

The clinical implications of bacteremia among septic patients remain unclear, although a vast amount of data have been accumulated on sepsis. We aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and outcomes of severe sepsis patients with and without bacteremia. This secondary analysis of a multicenter, prospective cohort study included 59 intensive care units (ICUs) in Japan between January 2016 and March 2017. The study cohort comprised 1,184 adults (aged ≥ 16 years) who were admitted to an ICU with severe sepsis and diagnosed according to the Sepsis-2 criteria. Of 1,167 patients included in the analysis, 636 (54.5%) had bacteremia. Those with bacteremia had significantly higher rates of septic shock (66.4% vs. 58.9%, p = 0.01) and higher sepsis severity scores, including the Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II and the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA). No significant difference in in-hospital mortality was seen between patients with and without bacteremia (25.6% vs. 21.0%, p = 0.08). In conclusion, half of severe sepsis patients in ICUs have bacteremia. Although patients with bacteremia had more severe state, between-group differences in patient-centered outcomes, such as in-hospital mortality, have not been fully elucidated.