Clinical aspect of sepsis: an overview

Sepsis is one of the oldest and most elusive syndromes in medicine. With the confi rmation of germ theory by Semmelweis, Pasteur, and others, sepsis was considered as a systemic infection by a pathogenic organism. Although the germ is probably the beginning of the syndrome and one of the major enemies to be identi- fi ed and fought, sepsis is something wider and more elusive. In this chapter clinically relevant themes of sepsis will be approached to provide an insight of everyday clinical practice for healthcare workers often not directly involved in the patient’s management.