Hyperlactatemia is associated with increased risks of long-term mortality and major adverse cardiovascular events in sepsis survivors.

Serum lactate is a potentially valuable biomarker for risk assessment for patients with sepsis, as hyperlactatemia is associated with elevated short-term mortality risks. However, the associations between hyperlactatemia and long-term clinical outcomes in sepsis survivors remain unknown. The objective of this study was to investigate whether hyperlactatemia at the time of hospitalisation for sepsis was associated with worse long-term clinical outcomes in sepsis survivors. In total, of 4983 sepsis survivors aged ≥ 20 years were enrolled in this study between January 1, 2012, and December 31, 2018. They were divided into low (≤18 mg/dL; After propensity score matching, the high lactate group had greater risks of all-cause mortality (hazard ratio [HR] 1.54, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.41-1.67), MACEs (HR 1.53, 95% CI 1.29-1.81), ischaemic stroke (HR 1.47, 95% CI 1.19-1.81), myocardial infarction (HR 1.52, 95% CI 1.17-1.99), and end-stage renal disease (HR 1.42, 95% CI 1.16-1.72). Subgroup analyses stratified by baseline renal function revealed almost similarity across groups. We found that hyperlactatemia is associated with long-term risks of mortality and MACEs in sepsis survivors. Physicians may consider more aggressive and prompter management of sepsis in patients who present with hyperlactatemia to improve long-term prognoses.