The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J‐SSCG 2020)
Authors: Egi Moritoki , Ogura Hiroshi , Yatabe Tomoaki , Atagi Kazuaki , Inoue Shigeaki , Iba Toshiaki , Kakihana Yasuyuki , Kawasaki Tatsuya , Kushimoto Shigeki , Kuroda Yasuhiro , Kotani Joji , Shime Nobuaki , Taniguchi Takumi , Tsuruta Ryosuke , Doi Kent , Doi Matsuyuki , Nakada Taka‐aki , Nakane Masaki , Fujishima Seitaro , Hosokawa Naoto , Masuda Yoshiki , Matsushima Asako , Matsuda Naoyuki , Yamakawa Kazuma , Hara Yoshitaka , Sakuraya Masaaki , Ohshimo Shinichiro , Aoki Yoshitaka , Inada Mai , Umemura Yutaka , Kawai Yusuke , Kondo Yutaka , Saito Hiroki , Taito Shunsuke , Takeda Chikashi , Terayama Takero , Tohira Hideo , Hashimoto Hideki , Hayashida Kei , Hifumi Toru , Hirose Tomoya , Fukuda Tatsuma , Fujii Tomoko , Miura Shinya , Yasuda Hideto , Abe Toshikazu , Andoh Kohkichi , Iida Yuki , Ishihara Tadashi , Ide Kentaro , Ito Kenta , Ito Yusuke , Inata Yu , Utsunomiya Akemi , Unoki Takeshi , Endo Koji , Ouchi Akira , Ozaki Masayuki , Ono Satoshi , Katsura Morihiro , Kawaguchi Atsushi , Kawamura Yusuke , Kudo Daisuke , Kubo Kenji , Kurahashi Kiyoyasu , Sakuramoto Hideaki , Shimoyama Akira , Suzuki Takeshi , Sekine Shusuke , Sekino Motohiro , Takahashi Nozomi , Takahashi Sei , Takahashi Hiroshi , Tagami Takashi , Tajima Goro , Tatsumi Hiroomi , Tani Masanori , Tsuchiya Asuka , Tsutsumi Yusuke , Naito Takaki , Nagae Masaharu , Nagasawa Ichiro , Nakamura Kensuke , Nishimura Tetsuro , Nunomiya Shin , Norisue Yasuhiro , Hashimoto Satoru , Hasegawa Daisuke , Hatakeyama Junji , Hara Naoki , Higashibeppu Naoki , Furushima Nana , Furusono Hirotaka , Matsuishi Yujiro , Matsuyama Tasuku , Minematsu Yusuke , Miyashita Ryoichi , Miyatake Yuji , Moriyasu Megumi , Yamada Toru , Yamada Hiroyuki , Yamamoto Ryo , Yoshida Takeshi , Yoshida Yuhei , Yoshimura Jumpei , Yotsumoto Ryuichi , Yonekura Hiroshi , Wada Takeshi , Watanabe Eizo , Aoki Makoto , Asai Hideki , Abe Takakuni , Igarashi Yutaka , Iguchi Naoya , Ishikawa Masami , Ishimaru Go , Isokawa Shutaro , Itakura Ryuta , Imahase Hisashi , Imura Haruki , Irinoda Takashi , Uehara Kenji , Ushio Noritaka , Umegaki Takeshi , Egawa Yuko , Enomoto Yuki , Ota Kohei , Ohchi Yoshifumi , Ohno Takanori , Ohbe Hiroyuki , Oka Kazuyuki , Okada Nobunaga , Okada Yohei , Okano Hiromu , Okamoto Jun , Okuda Hiroshi , Ogura Takayuki , Onodera Yu , Oyama Yuhta , Kainuma Motoshi , Kako Eisuke , Kashiura Masahiro , Kato Hiromi , Kanaya Akihiro , Kaneko Tadashi , Kanehata Keita , Kano Ken‐ichi , Kawano Hiroyuki , Kikutani Kazuya , Kikuchi Hitoshi , Kido Takahiro , Kimura Sho , Koami Hiroyuki , Kobashi Daisuke , Saiki Iwao , Sakai Masahito , Sakamoto Ayaka , Sato Tetsuya , Shiga Yasuhiro , Shimoto Manabu , Shimoyama Shinya , Shoko Tomohisa , Sugawara Yoh , Sugita Atsunori , Suzuki Satoshi , Suzuki Yuji , Suhara Tomohiro , Sonota Kenji , Takauji Shuhei , Takashima Kohei , Takahashi Sho , Takahashi Yoko , Takeshita Jun , Tanaka Yuuki , Tampo Akihito , Tsunoyama Taichiro , Tetsuhara Kenichi , Tokunaga Kentaro , Tomioka Yoshihiro , Tomita Kentaro , Tominaga Naoki , Toyosaki Mitsunobu , Toyoda Yukitoshi , Naito Hiromichi , Nagata Isao , Nagato Tadashi , Nakamura Yoshimi , Nakamori Yuki , Nahara Isao , Naraba Hiromu , Narita Chihiro , Nishioka Norihiro , Nishimura Tomoya , Nishiyama Kei , Nomura Tomohisa , Haga Taiki , Hagiwara Yoshihiro , Hashimoto Katsuhiko , Hatachi Takeshi , Hamasaki Toshiaki , Hayashi Takuya , Hayashi Minoru , Hayamizu Atsuki , Haraguchi Go , Hirano Yohei , Fujii Ryo , Fujita Motoki , Fujimura Naoyuki , Funakoshi Hiraku , Horiguchi Masahito , Maki Jun , Masunaga Naohisa , Matsumura Yosuke , Mayumi Takuya , Minami Keisuke , Miyazaki Yuya , Miyamoto Kazuyuki , Murata Teppei , Yanai Machi , Yano Takao , Yamada Kohei , Yamada Naoki , Yamamoto Tomonori , Yoshihiro Shodai , Tanaka Hiroshi , Nishida Osamu 
Published: August 2021

The Japanese Clinical Practice Guidelines for Management of Sepsis and Septic Shock 2020 (J‐SSCG 2020), a Japanese‐specific set of clinical practice guidelines for sepsis and septic shock created as revised from J‐SSCG 2016 jointly by the Japanese Society of Intensive Care Medicine and the Japanese Association for Acute Medicine, was first released in September 2020 and published in February 2021. An English‐language version of these guidelines was created based on the contents of the original Japanese‐language version. The purpose of this guideline is to assist medical staff in making appropriate decisions to improve the prognosis of patients undergoing treatment for sepsis and septic shock. We aimed to provide high‐quality guidelines that are easy to use and understand for specialists, general clinicians, and multidisciplinary medical professionals. J‐SSCG 2016 took up new subjects that were not present in SSCG 2016 (e.g., ICU‐acquired weakness [ICU‐AW], post‐intensive care syndrome [PICS], and body temperature management). The J‐SSCG 2020 covered a total of 22 areas with four additional new areas (patient‐ and family‐centered care, sepsis treatment system, neuro‐intensive treatment, and stress ulcers). A total of 118 important clinical issues (clinical questions, CQs) were extracted regardless of the presence or absence of evidence. These CQs also include those that have been given particular focus within Japan. This is a large‐scale guideline covering multiple fields; thus, in addition to the 25 committee members, we had the participation and support of a total of 226 members who are professionals (physicians, nurses, physiotherapists, clinical engineers, and pharmacists) and medical workers with a history of sepsis or critical illness. The GRADE method was adopted for making recommendations, and the modified Delphi method was used to determine recommendations by voting from all committee members.

As a result, 79 GRADE‐based recommendations, 5 Good Practice Statements (GPS), 18 expert consensuses, 27 answers to background questions (BQs), and summaries of definitions and diagnosis of sepsis were created as responses to 118 CQs. We also incorporated visual information for each CQ according to the time course of treatment, and we will also distribute this as an app. The J‐SSCG 2020 is expected to be widely used as a useful bedside guideline in the field of sepsis treatment both in Japan and overseas involving multiple disciplines.