Pediatric sepsis definitions: past, present, and future.

OBJECTIVE

To review the past, present, and future definitions of sepsis and the systemic inflammatory response syndrome in children.

METHODS

Review of the literature.

RESULTS

The history and development of the adult-derived sepsis syndrome and its application to pediatric-specific sepsis definitions is provided. Initially, only adult definitions were applied to pediatric studies. Recently, pediatric-specific definitions have been published. The pediatric consensus conference-derived definitions for systemic inflammatory response syndrome, sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock are summarized, and their limitations are discussed.

CONCLUSIONS

The potential value and inconsistencies of the current pediatric-specific sepsis definitions are discussed. Future direction of the definitions and their applications are presented.