Historical evolution of the word sepsis and its introduction as a medical concept Having this approach, we’re allow to understand the direct relation between trauma and infection and also the evolution in the concept of sepsis: from the birth of the word itself and its introduction as a medical concept, its etiology and pathophysiology as a disease, to the diverse forms of treatments proposed previous to contemporary medicine all this in a fascinating journey from the ancient Egypt to the XIX century.Ģ. This is the reason why we have chosen to approach the history of sepsis through the study of traumatic lesions, and its importance in the development of the germ theory and the rise of modern surgery. The time relation between a wound and the appearance of fever was well recognized, as were also the signs of local inflammation and the secondary systemic involvement.
Nevertheless, the phenomena we’ve come to know as sepsis, considered as a potential consequence of any type of wound, was a clinical phenomena well identify since the Ancient Egypt and can be traced as a defined clinical entity through western civilization history. To make a historical detailed description of sepsis referred to a variety of nosologic entities such as pulmonary, intestinal and/or urinary tract infections is yet a very difficult task, perhaps an impossible one, the latter due to the heterogeneous character of its etiology, also the diverse clinical manifestations, its wide range of complications, these summoned to a whole array of concepts, theories and conjectures applied within many determined cultural contexts in their attempt to describe and understand the meaning of sepsis. Therefore, this text also intends to demonstrate how the study and clinical approach of the phenomena in the past, that we’ve come to know as sepsis, gave way to the development of many important medical revolutions in the XVI and XIX century, especially in the fields of surgery and microbiology respectively. This is the reason why we feel obliged to go beyond a simple description of sepsis throughout history from ancient Egypt to pre-modern times. As oppose to these notoriously famous infectious diseases, sepsis cannot be categorized as a unique nosological entity studied by medical historians through the history of western medicine.
These are mere examples of well characterized infectious diseases which have had a definite contribution, among other factors, to the development of great scientific and historical changes. Throughout history, mankind has succumbed to endless infectious diseases which have been responsible of great historical changes classic examples like “The Black Death” during the late Medieval period, a disease being the cause of profound demographical and social changes that prelude The Renaissance we can also mention the smallpox epidemic during the New World conquest in the XVI century, a disease which was a direct cause of the pre-Columbian Mesoamerican cultures’ holocaust.
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