In 40 intensive care patients, tissue oxygen partial pressure distribution within skeletal muscle was measured in order to estimate peripheral oxygen availability. In septic patients with multiple organ failure (n= 20) mean skeletal muscle pO2 was abnormally high (48.8+/-8.5 mmHg, p less than 0.001) in contrast to patients with limited infection without sepsis (28.3+/-5.9 mmHg, n= 10). Mean muscle pO2 also discriminated between septic and cardiogenic shock (22.6+/-6.9 mmHg, p less than 0.001). The characteristic pattern of oxygen availability in septic patients--but not in patients with limited infection--was high skeletal muscle pO2 high whole body oxygen delivery and low whole body oxygen extraction, which was not influenced by the type of pathogenic agent of sepsis. In our patients in severe stage of sepsis, we did not observe local skeletal muscle hypoxia due to microcirculatory disorder. High mean skeletal muscle pO2 suggested reduced oxygen consumption within tissue rather than reduced oxygen transport to tissue in sepsis.