SIRS and qSOFA as Predictors of Mortality in Pediatric Sepsis

Abstract

Pediatric sepsis continues to be one of the main causes of mortality in low and middle-income countries, its early recognition in emergencies requires the use of criteria that allow us to predict the severity of the patient. Objective : our study aims to compare the SIRS criteria and qSOFA regarding its discriminatory capacity in mortality in children with sepsis. Methods: a prospective multicenter study was carried out in emergency services enrolling children with suspected sepsis subsequently admitted to the PICU, in which the scores in qSOFA and SIRS were evaluated comparing them with the results at hospital discharge. Results: 64 patients were enrolled, admitted in emergency in Sepsis (19%), Septic Shock (20.6%) and with Multiple Organ Dysfunction (60.4%) stage, with a mortality respectively of 9.5% and 14.3% and 76.2%; germ could be rescued in 33.9% of the cases; Evaluating the SIRS criteria, we see that the absence of them is associated with lower mortality (p = 0.044; OR 0.618: 95% CI 0.502-0.761); otherwise, 2 or more qSOFA criteria are associated with higher mortality (p = 0.047; OR 3.52: 95% CI 1.090-11.371). Conclusion: both criteria used to define sepsis in pediatrics demonstrated their usefulness, the use of the qSOFA score given its close relationship with mortality can be used to anticipate life-threatening organ alterations.