The American College of Chest Physicians (ACCP) and Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) held a consensus conference in August 1991 to agree on a set of definitions that could be applied to patients with sepsis and organ dysfunction. The consensus panel also recommended the use of severity scoring methods to characterize the disease and develop a comprehensive model for the syndrome.

This slide provides a brief definition of the various components of the sepsis syndrome. Notably, this is a non-linear process rather than a continuum and the presence of organ dysfunction identifies a population with a significant risk of mortality.

Bone RC, Balk RA, Cerra FB, et al. Definitions for sepsis and organ failure and guidelines for the use of innovative therapies in sepsis. Chest. 1992;101:1644-55. Bone RC et al. Chest. 1992;