Anaesthesia & Critical Care

20 learning units • 100 chapter sections • 200 explained questions. Prepare patients for anaesthesia, recognise perioperative emergencies and understand organ support, critical-care teamwork and recovery.

Original RAHBAR study material for the Year 5 learning pathway. Clinical cases support supervised undergraduate learning. Treatment choices, doses and procedures must follow current local protocols and the responsible clinical team. References & further reading ↓

MODULE 12 / 20

Sepsis & Source Control

Recognise infection-associated organ dysfunction and organise timely, risk-based care.

Choose an answer and check it immediately. Change your choice to try again. This is a self-study exercise; results are not saved.

Question 01. What raises concern for sepsis? A. Every isolated fever aloneB. Suspected infection with acute organ dysfunctionC. Every positive swab without illnessD. Any pain after exercise

Question 02. Does absence of fever exclude sepsis? A. NoB. YesC. Only in hospitalD. Only after surgery

Question 03. How should a physiological score be used? A. As a replacement for examinationB. To rule out all risk automaticallyC. Only for documentationD. Alongside clinical judgement and the appropriate pathway

Question 04. Which patient requires emergency escalation? A. Stable symptoms improving with a planB. An isolated historic cultureC. An asymptomatic old scarD. Suspected infection with shock or rapid deterioration

Question 05. Should cultures cause a harmful delay in urgent antimicrobial treatment? A. YesB. Always for a full dayC. Only if the laboratory is distantD. No

Question 06. What helps choose empirical antimicrobials? A. Source, allergies and local resistance guidanceB. Tablet colourC. Cost aloneD. The last antibiotic used by a relative

Question 07. Which is an example of source control? A. Recording temperature aloneB. Giving oxygen aloneC. Drainage of an infected collectionD. Repeating a pulse reading

Question 08. Are adult sepsis pathways automatically suitable for children? A. YesB. Only if the child can speakC. NoD. Only during daytime

Question 09. What should happen when microbiology results return? A. Review diagnosis and antimicrobial choiceB. Ignore them if treatment has begunC. Automatically add every drugD. Stop all monitoring

Question 10. Why reassess a presumed sepsis diagnosis? A. Infection is always proven initiallyB. Alternative causes and treatment harms may become apparentC. Reassessment delays every recoveryD. Scores cannot change

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References & Further Reading

Read the relevant guideline sections alongside these original clinical teaching cases. Local pathways, available services and individual patient factors determine care.

NICE NG253 — Suspected sepsis in people aged 16 or over

Reference review: 29 September 2026. Consult current local protocols for prescribing, procedures and escalation.