The AUCs of APACHE II score, IL-6, NSE (day1), and NSE (day4) for predicting prognosis in patients with septic shock were 0.650 (95%CI 0.531–0.757), 0.694 (95%CI 0.577–0.795), 0.758 (95%CI 0.646–0.850) and 0.770 (95%CI 0.658–0.859), respectively (all P < .05). Here, IL6 is linked to Shock.