Can procalcitonin guide decisions about antibiotic management?

[摘要] Yes, but with caution. Multiple randomized controlled trials showed thatprocalcitonin testing can help guide antibioticmanagement in a variety of clinical scenariosincluding sepsis, respiratory tract infection,and exacerbation of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and that procalcitonin guidance led to less antibiotic use witheither unchanged or better outcomes. Moreover, observational studies have shown highnegative predictive values for procalcitonintesting in other clinical situations such as bacteremia and bacterial meningitis, allowing clinicians to rule out these diagnoses if the clinical probability is low or moderate.Nonetheless, clinical judgment must beexercised to consider the possibility of falsepositive and false-negative results, especiallyif clinical suspicion for bacterial infection ishigh.

[学科分类] 卫生学