Septicemia - Diagnosis
Last Updated on Wednesday, 21 October 2009 14:07
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Diagnosis of Septicemia
The diagnosis of septicemia includes physical examination and blood tests. You doctor will conduct a clinical examination to detect the following:
- Low blood pressure.
- Low body temperature or fever.
- Signs of any underlying disease that may have lead to sepsis such as cellulitis (infection of internal tissues of the skin), epiglottitis (inflammation at the base of the tongue), meningitis (inflammation of membranes around the brain and spinal cord), and pneumonia.
Following the physical examination, your doctor will run a few confirmatory tests. These include:
Microbiological analysis
- Blood culture
- Urine culture
- CSF (Cerebrospinal fluid) culture
- Culture of skin lesion if present
Blood tests
- CBC (Complete Blood Count)
- Platelet count
- Clotting studies 1. Prothrombin time (PT) 2. Partial prothrombin time (PTT) 3. Fibrinogen levels
- Arterial Blood Gas (ABG): This is a test that measures the levels of oxygen and carbon dioxide in the blood to determine how well your lungs are working.
