Emergency department charges may be associated with mortality in patients with severe sepsis and septic shock: a cohort study.

Background: Sepsis severity of illness is challenging to measure using claims, which makes sepsis difficult to study using administrative data. We hypothesized that emergency department (ED) charges may be associated with hospital mortality, and could be a surrogate marker of severity of illness for research purposes. The objective of this study was to measure concordance between ED charges and mortality in admitted patients with severe sepsis or septic shock.

Serum anion gap predicts lactate poorly, but may be used to identify sepsis patients at risk for death: A cohort study.

Purpose: (1) To test whether serum bicarbonate or anion gap can be used to predict elevated lactate or mortality in emergency department (ED) patients with sepsis, and (2) to define thresholds that may predict elevated lactate and mortality.

Methods: Retrospective diagnostic-validation study of adults with sepsis treated in a 60,000-visit Midwestern university ED (2010-2015). In the derivation sample, 8 experts selected thresholds based on objective measures to optimize clinical utility.

Exercise induced rhabdomyolysis with compartment syndrome and renal failure.

Exertional rhabdomyolysis is sequela that is occasionally seen after strenuous exercise. The progression to compartment syndrome or renal failure is a rare complication that requires prompt recognition and treatment to prevent morbidity (Giannoglou et al. 2007).