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Evidence supporting early goal-directed treatment of sepsis is strong. An academic hospital in Alberta, Canada, developed an electronic clinical practice guideline for treatment of sepsis, which included order sets and was to be used at emergency physicians' discretion. Researchers retrospectively compared outcomes for 51 patients for whom the guideline was used and 51 age- and sex-matched patients for whom it was not. Outcomes were process measures (e.g., time to blood culture, time to lactate measurement), and use and amount of particular therapies (e.g., crystalloid, antibiotics, vasopressors). Thirty-day survival was the only “hard” outcome.
Administration of antibiotics within three hours was more common in the guideline group (63% vs. …