International journal of infectious diseases : IJID : official publication of the International Society for Infectious Diseases
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Int. J. Infect. Dis. · Aug 2019
Meta AnalysisIneffectiveness of procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy in severely critically ill patients: A meta-analysis.
Optimizing antibiotic therapy has an important impact on the management of critically ill patients. Procalcitonin (PCT) is considered to be of possible use in the guidance of antibiotic stewardship; however, its efficacy remains controversial. Thus, a meta-analysis was performed to determine the efficacy of PCT-guided antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients. ⋯ PCT-guided antibiotic therapy fails to decrease the mortality or LOS of critically ill patients with suspected or confirmed sepsis. PCT-guided cessation of antibiotic therapy could reduce the mortality in patients with an average SOFA score of <8, but not in those with an average SOFA score of >8.