Evaluation of Sepsis-Induced Coagulopathy in Critically Ill Pediatric Patients with Septic Shock

Background Coagulopathy is a common serious complication of sepsis and septic shock; thus, its early detection and prompt management are important. For this purpose, recently the sepsis-induced coagulopathy (SIC) score was proposed. Methods We modified the SIC score for critically ill children with septic shock and evaluated its performance in comparison to several coagulopathy diagnostic scoring systems. Results Among 135 included patients, a significant number of patients were diagnosed with coagulopathy using different coagulopathy diagnostic criteria (up to 84.4% using the SIC score). The modified SIC score, comprising the pediatric sequential organ failure assessment (pSOFA) score, prothrombin time, and D-dimer, was used to diagnose SIC in 68 (50.4%) patients. It was well correlated with the pSOFA score and the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC) score, as well as the SIC score ( p <0.001). The overall 28-day mortality rate was 18.7%. Patients with coagulopathy had worse clinical outcomes compared to those without coagulopathy. The modified SIC score was identified as an independent prognostic factor for 28-day mortality. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for performance of the modified SIC score to predict 28-day mortality evaluated was 0.771 (95% confidence interval: 0.658-0.883), better than those of the SIC and ISTH DIC scores ( p <0.05). Conclusion Critically ill pediatric patients with septic shock frequently had concomitant coagulopathy. The modified SIC score showed good ability to predict 28-day mortality, suggesting its potential as a prognostic factor in these critically ill pediatric patients.

Automated summary

The modified SIC score for critically ill children with septic shock showed good ability to predict 28-day mortality and was identified as an independent prognostic factor. It demonstrated better performance in predicting clinical outcomes compared to other diagnostic scoring systems.