Understanding Sepsis: What tools help diagnose sepsis?

In this video, Shamiram Feinglass, M.D., M.P.H, and chief medical officer at Beckman Coulter, explains the tools that help to diagnose #Sepsis.

There are some tests that every clinician can do as they are trying to determine if someone has sepsis. The first is a complete blood count or complete blood panel. In addition, you're going to look at a complete metabolic panel.

You're going to look at a CBC. You're going to look at a white count, you're going to look at lactate, procalcitonin, IL6.

You're going to look for an Early Sepsis Indicator. This is a test that Beckman Coulter produces, it's based on the monocyte distribution width or MDW. It is easy to run because it's run in parallel to a CBC or complete blood count.

The Early Sepsis Indicator is like a check engine light. It's that indicator that comes on early to tell you that something might be wrong. Almost every patient that comes into the emergency room gets a complete blood count or that CBC run.

Having that early check engine light is essential as you're trying to quickly identify someone who is septic. They go so quickly into being so incredibly ill, that it is a challenge to save them. So, when we have a marker, perhaps an Early Sepsis Indicator, that's really useful to us as we are managing patients.

49 million people worldwide are diagnosed with sepsis every year. Of that 49 million. 20 percent will die.

Sepsis is serious.

In the battle to #SolveSepsis, every moment counts. For more information about how Beckman Coulter's is helping to solve sepsis, please visit www.BeckmanCoulter.com/sepsis

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