Multiple Organ Failure

While traumatic brain injury and uncontrolled hemorrhage remain the leading causes of death after trauma, sepsis followed by multiple organ failure (MOF) are leading contributors to mortality in critically ill surgical and trauma patients. Multiple organ failure is the leading cause of morbidity in the intensive care unit (ICU) following trauma and represents the endpoint of the spectrum of SIRS and sepsis (Stewart, J Trauma 62:S47–8, 2007). Despite the identification of this disease process in the early 1970s, our understanding of the pathophysiology and the ensuing treatment of this syndrome remains a perplexing entity which entire books have been dedicated to. This chapter will provide a brief overview of the evolution of the disease, the clinical presentation; discuss the epidemiology and salient pathophysiology, as well as current treatment options and future considerations of this disease.