Clinical Practice and Cases in Emergency Medicine

Introduction: Sepsis commonly brings patients to the emergency department (ED). Patient outcomes can vary widely. In some cases, rare complications of sepsis such as autoimmune hemolytic anemia can occur.

Case Report: A 68-year-old female presented with sepsis secondary to infected nephrolithiasis. The patient had signs and symptoms consistent with hemolysis upon arrival to the ED. Her hemolysis progressively worsened over a two-day period leading to a diagnosis of warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia. She responded well to treatment; however, her condition began to worsen due to a new infection caused by perforated colonic diverticula. The patient ultimately expired from complications of her perforated colonic diverticula.

Conclusion: It is crucial that emergency physicians understand the risk factors, symptoms, pathophysiology, and treatment of this rare complication of sepsis so that favorable patient outcomes can be achieved.