Sepsis, the Sepsis Syndrome, Multi-Organ Failure: A Plea for Comparable Definitions

x recision in language is no trivial matter. Considerable confusion arises when terms are defined differently by different clinical subspecialties, or even within a given field. Such is the predicament that has arisen regarding the related, but overlapping terms used for the various degrees of severe clinical infection. Everyone has a vague notion of what the terms bacteremia, septicemia, sepsis, the sepsis syndrome, and septic shock mean. Too often, however, these words are used interchange-ably in speech and in the professional literature, which can lead to considerable bewilderment. Because clinical protocols are based on specific criteria understood by the developers of a given protocol, imprecise under-standing of definitions can lead to patients undergoing therapeutic protocols that cannot be legitimately com