title: Severe sepsis following percutaneous or endoscopic procedures for urinary tract stones.
abstract: Nine cases of severe sepsis following percutaneous or endoscopic procedures for upper urinary tract stones are reported. The mortality rate was 66%. Despite the fact that approximately 700 procedures were carried out in males and females in roughly equal proportions, a striking but inexplicable feature was that all 9 patients in the study group were female. Severe systemic sepsis has a high mortality rate and any procedure that may put patients at risk of this complication should not be undertaken lightly (and certainly not as an out-patient procedure). Recovery is possible with a high index of suspicion, early intervention and intensive treatment.
authors.affiliation: Department of Urology, University Hospital of South Manchester.
authors.forename: N K
authors.initials: NK
authors.lastname: O'Keeffe
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mortimer
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Sambrook
authors.forename: P N
authors.initials: PN
authors.lastname: Rao
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004724:Endoscopy; D005260:Female; D005334:Fever / Q000209:etiology; D006439:Hemodynamics / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D007022:Hypotension / Q000209:etiology; D007035:Hypothermia / Q000209:etiology; D008096:Lithotripsy; D008875:Middle Aged; D009403:Nephrostomy, Percutaneous; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D018805:Sepsis / Q000209:etiology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D012737:Sex Factors; D014545:Urinary Calculi / Q000601:surgery*