Emergency Medicine Practice Test 2026 – Complete Exam Preparation

In patients with sepsis, the leading cause of death is multi-organ failure. Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to infection that can lead to widespread tissue damage and dysfunction in multiple organ systems.

As the condition progresses, the body's response to infection becomes dysregulated, resulting in decreased perfusion to vital organs, including the kidneys, liver, lungs, and heart. This can eventually lead to organ dysfunction or failure. Multi-organ failure is particularly critical because it can result from the cumulative effects of inadequate blood flow and oxygen delivery to tissues, which is further complicated by inflammatory mediators released during sepsis.

While pneumonia is a common source of sepsis and conditions like cardiac arrest and acute respiratory distress syndrome can be associated complications, they do not account for the breadth of organ systems that fail as a result of severe sepsis. Rather, it is the multi-organ failure that represents the systemic consequences of the body's inability to cope with the overwhelming inflammatory response, ultimately leading to death in many patients suffering from severe sepsis. This underscores the critical nature of early recognition and aggressive management of sepsis to prevent progression to multi-organ failure.