Table 2.

Procalcitonin Guidance in Respiratory Infections and Sepsis

Acute respiratory tract infections including community acquired pneumonia [36–40, 42] (PCT-ng/mL)

PCT <0.10: Strongly discourage antibiotic PCT <0.25: Discourage antibiotic PCT >0.25: Encourage antibiotic PCT >0.50: Strongly encourage antibiotic Good quality evidence suggests that PCT guidance reduces antibiotic duration of use and prescription rates. Moderate to good quality evidence suggests that PCT guidance did not increase mortality, hospital length of stay, or ICU admission rates. This guidance will need further validation in large multicenter trials.

Sepsis and fever in a critically ill patients [29–34, 42]

PCT >0.5 within 2–3 hours of onset of sepsis PCT levels (0.6–2.0): Systemic inflammatory response syndrome PCT levels (2–10): Sepsis PCT >10: Septic shock There is moderate quality evidence to suggest that PCT guidance in ICUs decreases overall antibiotic use and has no significant effect on morbidity (based on the length of stay). More research is needed to study the effect on PCT antibiotic guidance on the mortality in ICU patients.

Abbreviations: ICU, intensive care unit; PCT, procalcitonin.