Is Procalcitonin No Longer Relevant for Guiding Antibiotic Use for Lower Respiratory Tract Infections?

Synopsis: In this multicenter randomized trial, the utility of procalcitonin assay results for decreasing antibiotic use in lower respiratory tract infections was investigated. Emergency department and hospital-based clinicians were provided with procalcitonin assay results and instructions on their interpretation for a group of patients presenting with lower respiratory tract infections whose need for antibiotics was still uncertain. The provision of these results and the instruction on their utility did not result in less antibiotic use compared with usual care. Source: Huang DT, Yealy DM, Filbin MR et al. Procalcitonin-guided use of antibiotics for lower respiratory tract infection. J Med. 2018; 379:236–249.
Source: Clinical Pulmonary Medicine - Category: Respiratory Medicine Tags: Pulmonary Trends Source Type: research