Sepsis is a very important public health problem. It is widely acknowledged that the severe inflammatory response syndrome/severe sepsis paradigm fails to stratify sepsis patients adequately. This book reviews in detail how sepsis should be managed on the basis of a novel approach to staging. The PIRO (predisposing factors, infection, response, organ dysfunction) model was first proposed at the start of the decade on a theoretical basis and has now been translated into a practical approach for use at the bedside. It is loosely based on the TNM staging system for cancers, with points being...