In silico modeling: methods and applications to trauma and sepsis.

Abstract

To familiarize clinicians with advances in computational disease modeling applied to trauma and sepsis. PubMed search and review of relevant medical literature. Definitions, key methods, and applications of computational modeling to trauma and sepsis are reviewed. Computational modeling of inflammation and organ dysfunction at the cellular, organ, whole-organism, and population levels has suggested a positive feedback cycle of inflammation → damage → inflammation that manifests via organ-specific inflammatory switching networks. This structure may manifest as multicompartment "tipping points" that drive multiple organ dysfunction. This process may be amenable to rational inflammation reprogramming.