Award for critical care physicians at the Emden Clinic

Hospital Emden

Successful therapies for severe blood poisoning are widely recognized internationally

The therapy of severe blood poisoning – termed Sepsis – is one of the specialties of critical care at the Klinikum Emden. The Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine under the direction of chief physician Dr. med. Klaus Kogelmann has long been represented at international congresses with his own work and together with the German working group SepNet (Competence Network Sepsis). For example, at the 7th International Sepsis Congress in Weimar in September, a presentation on the subject of “Blood purification in sepsis” (Cytosorb) was presented.

At the subsequent user meeting of the company “Cytosorbents Europe GmbH”, which sells the corresponding filters for the therapy, the work of the Emder critical care physicians was awarded a third place. The certificate became Dr. med. Kogelmann and senior physician Matthias Drüner has now been handed over by Uwe Gerks (Regional Sales Manager Northern Germany Cytosorbents Europe GmbH), who has traveled to Emden for this purpose. “Our work in Emden receives such attention, of course, honors us very much,” says the chief physician of the clinic about this award. This award recognizes the high level of commitment of all those involved in the severely ill patients in critical care at the hospital.

For about a year, the so-called CytoSorb therapy has been used in sepsis patients in Emden. In sepsis, inflammation spreads to the whole circulatory system. This spread of the pathogens is life-threatening, because they can get anywhere in the body, and because the immune system overreacts: Gradually, the own organs are paralyzed. To prevent this, CytoSorb therapy uses a special filter to redirect the patient’s blood, similar to dialysis. This binds some of the substances that are responsible for the excessive immune response in the body, especially the so-called cytokines. This is intended to alleviate the excess inflammatory response. Thus, the stabilization process can be promoted in the first phase of the disease.

This therapy has been used more than 5500 times worldwide, and the application has proven to be well tolerated and safe. “Here, too, we work very successfully with the method,” Dr. Kogelmann.

The fact that the Emder Clinic has made a name for itself in sepsis therapy is not only reflected in the new award. This is also an invitation to this year’s Austrian Anesthesia Congress in Vienna in November, where Dr. Ing. Kogelmann and his team will present their work.