Table 1.
Results of prospective randomized trials
| Country | Author | Ref | Trial name | Year | Number | Population | PCT E | PCT C | Number of fewer days of antibiotic use |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Use in respiratory infections | |||||||||
| Switzerland | Christ-Crain | [20] | None | 2006 | 302 | CAP | 0.57 | 0.44 | Yes, 7 days |
| Switzerland | Briel | [23] | None | 2008 | 458 | resp infect | 0.8 | 0.8 | Yes, 1 day |
| Swiss/USA | Stolz | [25] | None | 2009 | 101 | VAP | 0.6 | 0.7 | Yes, 5 days |
| Switzerland | Schuetz | [26] | ProHosp | 2009 | 1359 | resp infect | 0.24 | 0.24 | Yes, 3 days |
| Use in sepsis | |||||||||
| Switzerland | Nobre | [21] | None | 2008 | 79 | Sepsis | 8.4 | 5.9 | Yes, 3.5 days |
| Germany | Schroeder | [22] | None | 2008 | 27 | Severe sepsis | 7.0 | 6.0 | Yes, 1.7 days |
| Sepsis in the ICU setting | |||||||||
| Germany | Hochreiter | [24] | None | 2009 | 110 | SICU | 4.5 | 4.8 | Yes, 2 days |
| France | Bouadma | [27] | PRORATA | 2010 | 621 | ICU | 12.0 | 12.0 | Yes, 3 days |
| Netherlands | De Jong | [28] | SAPS | 2013 | 1816 | ICU | – | – | Results pending |
| Australia | Shehabi | [30] | ProGuard | 2014 | 400 | ICU | 5.7 | 8.8 | No, 2 days not statistically significant |
Ref reference number, n number of patients enrolled in the study, CAP community-acquired pneumonia, resp infect respiratory infection, SICU surgical intensive care unit, VAP ventilator-associated pneumonia, ICU intensive care unit, PCT E initial procalcitonin level in the experimental group (ng/mL), PCT C initial procalcitonin level in the control group (ng/mL)