Introduction:

Septic shock is the main cause of shock in the intensive care unit (62% of all cases); its mortality is around 40 to 50%. In patients with septic shock, metabolic acidosis is the most common acid-base disorder. Risk stratification in critically ill patients allows us to identify patients who are more likely to benefit from treatment.

Material and methods:

A prospective, longitudinal, observational and analytical cohort study was conducted. Patients diagnosed with septic shock (according to the guidelines of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign 2016) and metabolic acidosis were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit in the period from June 2015 to July 2017.

Results:

Unmeasured ions (RR 2.5, 95% CI 1.03-6.2, p = 0.0001) are independent predictors of survival at admission in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Of the total number of deaths (n = 28), the number and percentage differed between each class: class I (n = 2, 7%), class II (n = 6, 21%), class III (n = 9, 32%) and class IV (n = 11, 39%).

Conclusion:

The objective of classifying patients with septic shock and metabolic acidosis upon admission is to compare groups to direct the therapeutic effort in the best way. Unmeasured ions are a good choice, have scientific support, and can evaluate and classify patients with septic shock and metabolic acidosis in hospitals such as ours where lactate measurement cannot be performed. Adverse outcomes are higher in class IV (> -9 mEq/L) septic shock according to unmeasured ions.

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