👻
HALLOWEEN SALE SAVE UP TO 30% NOW
Physician Assistant (PA)
/
Courses
/
Pathology
/
Shock & Sepsis
/
Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Assessment

Master Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Assessment with Picmonic for Physician Assistant

With Picmonic, facts become pictures. We've taken what the science shows - image mnemonics work - but we've boosted the effectiveness by building and associating memorable characters, interesting audio stories, and built-in quizzing.

DOWNLOAD PDF
Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Assessment

Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Assessment

Severed Sepsis-snake and Shocking Sepsis-snake with Assess-man
Picmonic
Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to an infection and it is classified as severe sepsis when organ dysfunction is involved. Septic shock is the occurrence of sepsis with hypotension despite adequate fluid resuscitation. In response several pathological mechanisms occur in the body including excessive vasodilation, increased microvascular permeability, excessive cellular activation, and increased coagulation. This results in maldistribution of blood leading to inadequate tissue perfusion and subsequently tissue hypoxia.
7 KEY FACTS
Microthrombi
Micro-trombones

Platelets and clotting factors form microthrombi in the vessels which decrease blood flow and cause tissue ischemia.

DIC
Dice

DIC or Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation begins when microthrombi form causing a thrombotic state. Once all platelets and coagulation factors are consumed patients experience hemorrhage. Characteristically patients bleed from any previous puncture wounds and orifices and may have petechiae. PT and PTT values will be increased.

Decreased Oxygen Saturation
Down-arrow Percent O2-tank

Ischemia causes decreased oxygenation to tissues as a result of microthrombi formation. Severe tachypnea results in an attempt to compensate. Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) may occur as a result of alveolar damage in the lungs.

Decreased WBC
Down-arrow White-mac-man

Sepsis can present as a high or low WBC count. Sustained sepsis may result in a low WBC or >10% bands (immature neutrophils).

Oliguria
Old-gopher

As refractory hypotension leads to septic shock urine output decreases closer to 0, which is termed oliguria.

High Output Heart Failure
High Output Dead Heart

Septic shock is a form of distributive shock or high output heart failure which is defined as increased cardiac output but unable to meet metabolic demands. In this case the cardiac output is increased however the oxygenated blood is not able to reach the tissues.

Multiple Organ Failure
Multiple Dead Organs

With prolonged ischemia, tissues sustain irreversible damage. This irreversible damage leads to organ failure and subsequently death.

DOWNLOAD PDF

Recommended Picmonics

picmonic thumbnail
Types of Shock
picmonic thumbnail
Sepsis Assessment
picmonic thumbnail
Disseminated Intravascular Coagulation (DIC)
picmonic thumbnail
Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) Criteria
picmonic thumbnail
Blood Transfusion Administration

Take the Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Assessment Quiz

Picmonic's rapid review multiple-choice quiz allows you to assess your knowledge.

It's worth every penny

Our Story Mnemonics Increase Mastery and Retention

Memorize facts with phonetic mnemonics

Unforgettable characters with concise but impactful videos (2-4 min each)

Memorize facts with phonetic mnemonics

Ace Your Physician Assistant (PA) Classes & Exams with Picmonic:

Over 1,970,000 students use Picmonic’s picture mnemonics to improve knowledge, retention, and exam performance.

Choose the #1 Physician Assistant (PA) student study app.

Picmonic for Physician Assistant (PA) covers information that is relevant to your entire Physician Assistant (PA) education. Whether you’re studying for your classes or getting ready to conquer the PANCE® or PANRE®, we’re here to help.

Works better than traditional Physician Assistant (PA) flashcards.

Research shows that students who use Picmonic see a 331% improvement in memory retention and a 50% improvement in test scores.