Urosepsis – Definition, Symptoms, Causes, Diagnosis and Treatment
Are you suffering from an acute pain in the flank and a burning feeling while urinating? Has your heart rate shot up abnormally and blood pressure taken a dip? It is about time you visit a doctor for you may be suffering from Urosepsis.
What is Urosepsis?
Urinary Tract Infection is how people generally define Urosepsis. However, Urosepsis is actually a disease that is caused by an infection in the urinary tract. The condition involves a sepsis, or an accumulation of pus-forming bacteria or their toxins in the blood of the urinary tract. This leads to a poisoning of the blood and gives rise to severe health complications like damage of organs which can even cause death.
In acute cases, the infection in the urinary tract spreads to the entire body.
Urosepsis ICD9 Code
The ICD-9 code for Urosepsis is the same as for “urinary tract infection,” that is 599.0. When a real sepsis (blood poisoning) with fever and abnormal blood tests develops, the ICD-9 code 995.91 should be used.
Urosepsis is characterised by a number of symptoms. Some of these are externally visible while there are symptoms that can be felt only by the sufferer. As the definition of Urosepsis suggests, the symptoms mainly involve urinary problems. But there may be some other symptoms as well.
The condition is generally characterized by :
Increased Frequency of Urination
The sufferer begins to pass urine at more frequent intervals. The gap can reduce to less than 2 hrs in some cases.
Sufferers commonly experience an acute pain while passing urine.
Burning Feeling while Urinating
People with Urosepsis often suffer from a burning sensation while urinating.
Pain in the Flank and Lower Back
An infected person often experiences a sharp pain in the lower back and sides of the body. This occurs when the urine tract infection spreads to the kidneys.
Blood in Urine
The affected person often passes blood along with urine.
The body temperature often shoots up high and makes the infected person feel sharp pain all over. There may also be abnormal temperature changes, above 101 degree F in some cases and below 95 degrees in some persons.
The patient also commonly experiences shivers in the hands and feet.
Enhanced Heart Rate
The heart rate shoots up very high and makes the affected person suffer palpitations. The patient normally experiences more than 90 heart beats per minute.
Increased Respiratory Rate
When the infection becomes more severe, the patient suffers from an enhanced breathing rate of more than 20 breaths per minute.
Low Blood Pressure
The blood pressure decreases rapidly which leads to a lot of discomfort. In acute cases involving a Septic shock, there is a sharp drop, causing the patient to faint.
In acute cases, there may be a drop in platelet count in the system.
Low Urine Output
The volume of urine produced in the system may fall rapidly in severe cases.
If the infection becomes more pronounced, blotches may appear on the skin.
Most of these symptoms occur due to the natural response of the system against infection. If the condition is not treated in time, it can cause severe damage to the system. The heart can suffer damage and function in an impaired manner. The circulation will be affected which will lead to less oxygen supply to the brain. The brain will eventually suffer damage.
A number of factors are believed to be the causes of Urosepsis. These are :
People who suffer from impaired kidney functions often have indwelling catheters set inside them. This can be a cause for the condition.
Patients with kidney stones can have a greater risk of suffering from Urosepsis.
Benign Prostate Hyperplasia
People with this condition are more likely to suffer from the disease.
The bacteria of the genus Chlamydia cause a sexually transmitted infection which can also be a cause of this disease.
E coli Urinary Tract Infection
The Escherichia coli bacterium present in intestinal tract sometimes leads to food poisoning and causesurinary tract infections. This may lead to Urosepsis.
The condition is generally diagnosed by doctors after careful observation of the symptoms. The patient’s medical history is also taken into account. In many cases, a blood test is also conducted to check the amount of white blood cells in the bloodstream. A blood culture is often carried out to find out the kind of bacteria responsible for the infection.
Treatment of Urosepsis
The condition clears up naturally in younger people. But older people or acute Urosepsis sufferers need good treatment. Urosepsis Treatment is mainly done by doctors and patients are advised not to try home remedies. The treatment for Urosepsis is mainly carried out with antibiotics. Doctors mainly prescribe antibiotic medications to kill bacteria in bloodstream.
Separate medicines are used to counter other symptoms like fever or blood in urine. Vasopressors are usually prescribed if the patient suffers from low blood pressure problems. In some cases, fluid replacement method is used to clear up traces of Urosepsis from the bloodstream. Timely medications are very important to cure urinary tract infection and preventing the condition from becoming a serious threat to the health of the patient.
Who gets Urosepsis?
Older persons are more likely to suffer from this condition. Patients with kidney infections or low-immunity diseases like HIV are also at greater risk of having this infection.
Unless treated in time, the condition can give rise to life-threatening consequences in the form of a septiv shock. However, with proper and timely treatment, the outcome is good enough for the majority of patients.
The potential complications of this condition include a Septic shock. This can occur in case of a severe Sepsis that can lead to low blood pressure and reduced flow of oxygen to the vital organs.
Urosepsis can also cause acute damage to the heart, consequently damaging the brain as the brain may not get adequate amounts of oxygen necessary for its sustenance. Older women are also susceptible to secondary infections following the occurrence of UTI (Urinary Tract Infection).
The disorder can be prevented by adopting the following measures:
- Avoiding retention of urine for long periods and emptying the bladder on a frequent basis.
- Emptying the urinary bladder before and after a lovemaking session.
- Wiping from front to back after a bowel movement (recommended for women) by using only one tissue at a time
If you have age on your side and no urinary disorder or low-immunity disease whatsoever, Urosepsis may not be a very harmful disease for you. The condition may go away normally in many young people. But an acute case of the disorder needs immediate medical attention. It is best not to try home treatments and go for expert medical advice instead. An experienced medical professional will understand the problem and check the infection before it spreads to other parts of the system. If you are suffering from the infection or know someone who is, get medical assistance immediately.