The incidence and risk factors for severe sepsis (SS, organ failure associated with infection) in the context of peritonitis are not well established; thus, it is not clear which patients require more aggressive operative or pharmacologic intervention. We set out to determine risk factors for severe sepsis in a large cohort of patients with intra-abdominal infection.
Division of General and Trauma Surgery, Harborview Medical Center, and the Department of Surgery, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98104-2499, USA.
