In 2001 Rivers et al. published a landmark study in the
New England Journal of Medicine showing that in a single
centre, involving patients presenting to an emergency
department with severe sepsis and septic shock, an early
goal-directed therapy (EGDT) protocol significantly
reduced mortality compared with those receiving usual
care.1 This underpinned the long-standing tenet of
medical practice that early detection and treatment of
sepsis will reduce mortality.
