Table 1 Baseline characteristics of patients with bacterial sepsis, appropriateness of first-line empirical antibiotic therapy, and outcome

Age (years)

64.0 (15.3)

63.4 (15.9)

65.9 (13.1)

62.2 (15.5)

68.6 (14.0)^a

Sex (male/female)

122 (67.8%)/58 (32.2%)

87 (64.4%)/48 (35.6%)

35 (77.8%)/10 (22.2%)^b

91 (70.5%)/38 (29.5%)

31 (60.8%)/20 (39.2%)

SAPS II on admission (points)

46.3 (16.9)

45.2 (17.7)

49.9 (13.7)

41.6 (15.2)

58.1 (15.3)^a

Time between ICU admission and sepsis (days)

4.7 (8.9)

4.9 (9.7)

4.1 (5.8)

3.8 (8.1)

7.1 (10.3)^a

Sepsis source

   Pneumonia

93 (51.7%)

68 (54.4%)

25 (55.6%)

59 (45.7%)

34 (66.7%)^a

   Miscellaneous^c

59 (32.8%)

43 (31.8%)

16 (35.6%)

47 (36.4%)

5 (9.8%)

   Urinary tract

28 (15.5%)

24 (17.8%)

4 (8.8%)

23 (17.8%)

12 (23.5%)

   Bacteremia

101 (56.1%)

72 (53.3%)

29 (64.4%)

73 (56.6%)

28 (54.9%)

Isolated pathogenes

   Gram-negative

87 (48.3%)

60 (44.5%)

29 (60.0%)^a

57 (44.2%)

30 (58.8%)^a

Enterobacteriacae

59 (32.8%)

39 (28.9%)

20 (44.4%)

43 (33.3%)

16 (31.4%)

Pseudomonas aeruginosa

16 (8.9%)

12 (8.9%)

4 (8.9%)

7 (5.4%)

9 (17.6%)

Miscellaneous

12 (6.7%)

9 (6.7%)

3 (6.7%)

7 (5.4%)

5 (9.8%)

   Gram-positive

79 (43.9%)

65 (51.1%)

14 (31.1%)^a

62 (48.1%)

17 (33.3%)^a

Staphylococcus aureus

31 (17.2%)

28 (20.7%)

3 (6.7%)

23 (17.8%)

8 (15.7%)

Streptococcus spp.

40 (22.2%)

33 (24.4%)

7 (15.5%)

32 (24.8%)

8 (15.7%)

Miscellaneous

8 (4.4%)

4 (3.0%)

4 (8.9%)

7 (5.4%)

1 (1.9%)

   Polymicrobial

14 (7.8%)

10 (7.4%)

4 (8.9%)

10 (7.7%)

4 (7.9%)

Sepsis characteristics by D1

   Septic shock

70 (41.2%)

57 (42.2%)

21 (46.7%)

39 (32.8%)

31 (63.3%)^a

   SOFA score (points)

6.2 (3.6)

6.2 (3.5)

6.2 (3.9)

5.4 (3.2)

8.2 (3.5)^a

   Platelet count (giga/l)

208.6 (137.5)

201.4 (123.1)

231.3 (175.2)

229.8 (135.9)

159.2 (129.4)^a

   PaO₂/FiO₂ (mmHg)

244 (140)

229.2 (129.7)

285.3 (161.0)^a

256.3 (140.1)

217.9 (139.2)^b

   Mean arterial pressure (mmHg)

73.5 (19.4)

74.2 (18.7)

71.3 (21.3)

74.4 (18.8)

71.2 (20.7)

   Lactate (mmol/l)

3.2 (2.9)

3.4 (3.2)

2.7 (1.8)

2.8 (2.6)

4.1 (3.4)^a

   Bilirubinemia (μmol/l)

28.3 (43.8)

30.8 (47.9)

20.5 (26.1)

28.6 (48.8)

27.7 (28.5)

   Creatininemia (μmol/l)

199.1 (181.2)

197.6 (184.2)

203.6 (173.5)

204.7 (196.4)

184.9 (135.9)

   C-reactive protein (mg/l)

151.1 (111.9)

159.9 (112.9)

121.1 (105.0)^b

152.1 (114.2)

148.6 (107.7)

Nosocomial sepsis

98 (54.4%)

70 (51.8%)

28 (62.2%)

64 (49.6%)

34 (66.7%)^b

ICU length of stay

18.8 (19.9)

19.3 (22.2)

17.5 (13.9)

16.2 (18.2)

25.6 (22.5)^a