septic

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septic From the Greek sepsis meaning putrefaction. ‘Septic’ may describe any infection usually bacterial infection of a wound, which causes both damage to tissues and also the defensive accumulation of white blood cells; the debris of the battleground leads to the accumulation of the thick yellow fluid pus. If this is confined beneath the skin or in any enclosed space (root of a tooth, breast, brain, middle ear, for example) it needs to be released before healing can occur — either by spontaneous bursting or with surgical assistance, for example by the traditional ‘lancing’ of an abscess, now referred to as incision and drainage. The derived term septicaemia means infection which has spread into the bloodstream (the ending -aemia always refers to the circulating blood).

Stuart Judge

septic (sep-tik) adj. relating to or affected with sepsis. s. arthritis infection in a joint, which becomes swollen, hot, and tender; movement is very painful. The infecting organism (usually Staphylococcus aureus) enters the joint via the bloodstream, through a penetrating injury, or by direct spread from an area of osteomyelitis. s. shock a life-threatening condition that occurs when the number of bacteria in the blood multiplies uncontrollably and results in hypotension caused by septicaemia (see shock). Clinical manifestations include fever, rapid breathing, diarrhoea, and confusion; multi-organ failure and diffuse intravascular coagulation are associated with the condition.

sep·tic / ˈseptik/ • adj. 1. (chiefly of a wound or a part of the body) infected with bacteria. 2. denoting a drainage system incorporating a septic tank. • n. a drainage system incorporating a septic tank. DERIVATIVES: sep·ti·cal·ly / -ik(ə)lē/ adv. sep·tic·i·ty / sepˈtisitē/ n.

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