BACKGROUND: Sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC) is a scoring system developed for early detection of coagulopathy in sepsis and selection of patients for interventional studies. Our aim was to define the prevalence of SIC in a critically ill population and investigate if SIC at intensive care unit (ICU) admission is associated with morbidity and mortality.
METHODS: Patients admitted with septic shock between 2011, and March 2024 were propensity matched into 2 groups (control and SIC). Primary outcome was 28-day mortality. Other outcomes were 90-, 180-day and ICU-mortality, days alive and free of vasopressors, mechanical ventilation and renal replacement therapy (RRT) along with the use of RRT, number of critical bleeding events and red blood cell transfusion.
RESULTS: 1367 patients with septic shock were identified, 422 (31%) had SIC at ICU admission. Propensity matching resulted in 340 patients in each group. SIC was not associated with higher 28-day mortality (44% versus 37%, p = 0.091). ICU-mortality was higher in the SIC group (30% versus 22%, p = 0.016) and it had fewer median days alive and free of vasopressors (20 versus 22, p = 0.046). Incidence of critical bleeding events was higher in the SIC group (17% versus 10%, p = 0.009). More patients in the SIC group required red blood cell transfusion (63% versus 53%, p = 0.009). There was no significant difference in other outcomes.
CONCLUSION: SIC was prevalent in 31% of patients at ICU admission and was associated with higher ICU-mortality, fewer days alive and free of vasopressors, more critical bleeding events and more red blood cell transfusions.
}}, author = {{Víðisson, Kristján and Kander, Thomas and Lengquist, Maria and Mellhammar, Lisa and Linder, Adam and Nilsson, Caroline Ulfsdotter}}, issn = {{1557-8615}}, language = {{eng}}, month = {{03}}, publisher = {{Elsevier}}, series = {{Journal of Critical Care}}, title = {{Sepsis-induced coagulopathy and outcomes - What about bleeding? : A propensity score-matched study in critically ill patients with septic shock}}, url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrc.2026.155542}}, doi = {{10.1016/j.jcrc.2026.155542}}, volume = {{94}}, year = {{2026}}, }