Is there a role for procalcitonin in differentiating uncomplicated and complicated diverticulitis in order to reduce antibiotic therapy? A prospective diagnostic cohort study.

CONCLUSION: Procalcitonin was able to differentiate with a high sensitivity and specificity between complicated and uncomplicated cases of diverticulitis when combined with abdominal CT scans. As most clinicians still treat uncomplicated diverticulitis with antibiotics, procalcitonin could be an interesting parameter for guiding therapy and decreasing antibiotic usage. This should be further evaluated in randomised trials. PMID: 29185246 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Swiss Medical Weekly - Category: General Medicine Authors: Tags: Swiss Med Wkly Source Type: research