Quick update: Procalcitonin-guided cessation of Rx may be beneficial
Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Procalcitonin-Guidance Versus Usual Care for Antimicrobial Management in Critically Ill Patients: Focus on Subgroups Based on Antibiotic Initiation, Cessation, or Mixed Strategies
Procalcitonin may be used to shorten the duration of Rx in patients with sepsis
Used to guide initiation (>0.5-1.0 ug/L) or cessation of Rx (<0.5-1.0 ug/L or decrease of >50-90% of previous level), or both
Meta-analysis of 15 studies looking at short term mortality as primary outcome, and length of therapy as secondary outcome
Use of procalcitonin to guide cessation of Rx resulted in decreased risk ratio for primary outcome (mortality, 0.87) and decreased Rx duration by 1.26 days
Photo by Marcelo Leal on Unsplash