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SMJ // Article

Perspectives

Know Your Guidelines Series: Key Recommendations from the SCCM/IDSA Guideline on Evaluating New Fever in the Adult Intensive Care Unit Patient

Authors: Cassidy J. Stegall, MD, Tina H. Dao MD, PhD, Christopher D. Jackson, MD

Abstract

Fever in the intensive care unit (ICU) may occur in 28% to 88% of adult ICU patients, depending on the definition of fever used.1 New fevers may be a sign of new conditions that have developed or of earlier causes of fever that are not improving with current therapy. Fevers may be due to infectious diseases, drug reactions, inflammatory conditions, transfusion reactions, temperature measurement errors, dehydration and environmental conditions in the ICU that cause heat stress. Here, we provide a summary of the updated 2023 guidelines for evaluating new fever in adult patients in the ICU, compiled by a task force from the Society of Critical Care Medicine and the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

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References

Infectious Diseases Society of America guidelines for evaluating new fever in adult patients in the ICU. Crit Care Med 2023;51:1570–1586.  
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