The complete blood count to diagnose septic shock
Joshua D. Farkas
Abstract
The complete blood count has a longstanding role in the diagnosis of septic shock. Despite its limitations, this is a pragmatic tool because patients will generally have a blood count measured upon presentation to the hospital. Therefore, it is sensible to extract as much information from these values as possible. Although the white blood cell count continues to attract the most attention, it is the least useful. Emerging evidence suggests that emphasis should be shifted to the neutrophil to lymphocyte ratio (NLR) and perhaps the fraction of immune granulocytes.
Topics & Concepts
MedicineSeptic shockWhite blood cellComplete blood countShock (circulatory)ImmunologyBlood countPresentation (obstetrics)LymphocyteIntensive care medicineAbsolute neutrophil countCount dataSepsisInternal medicineSurgeryNeutropeniaStatisticsMathematicsPoisson distributionToxicitySepsis Diagnosis and TreatmentHematological disorders and diagnosticsHemodynamic Monitoring and Therapy