Abstract:
Based on the TCM theory of pathogenesis involving both pathogenic factors and healthy qi, and combined with modern research on sepsis syndrome elements and constitution, this article proposes a three-in-one TCM diagnostic and treatment system for sepsis that integrates constitution identification, syndrome element identification, and disease stage identification. It posits that constitution is the foundation of the disease, establishing the inherent pathogenesis, course of the disease, and prognostic trend throughout the entire process; syndrome elements are the current real-time manifestations of the pathogenesis, dynamically reflecting the characteristics of the syndrome; and staged treatment defines the time window for diagnosis and treatment. These three elements are dynamically coupled to jointly construct an individualized diagnostic and treatment framework for sepsis. This system divides the disease course into three stages: the toxin-heat stage, the stasis-toxin stage, and the prostration stage. It emphasizes that initial treatment should focus on strengthening the healthy qi and addressing deficiencies based on the patient’s constitution, treating all five zang organs and regulating both the physical and mental aspects throughout the entire process. This system does not negate the “four syndromes and four methods”, but rather expands it from static syndrome types to dynamic spatiotemporal patterns, placing the deficiency of healthy qi from the late stage of disease to the susceptible period, thus providing a new reference for individualized syndrome differentiation and treatment of concurrent syndromes in sepsis.