Procalcitonin versus C-reactive protein for guiding antibiotic therapy in sepsis: a randomized trial.

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: We sought to evaluate whether procalcitonin was superior to C-reactive protein in guiding antibiotic therapy in intensive care patients with sepsis. DESIGN: Randomized open clinical trial. SETTING: Two university hospitals in Brazil. PATIENTS Patients with severe sepsis or septic shock. INTERVENTIONS: Patients were randomized in two groups the procalcitonin group and the C-reactive protein group. Antibiotic therapy was discontinued following a protocol based on serum levels of these markers, according to the allocation group. The procalcitonin group was considered superior if the duration of antibiotic therapy was at least 25% shorter than in the C-reactive protein group. For both groups, at least seven full-days of antibiotic therapy were ensured in patients with Sequential Organ Failure Assessment greater than 10 and/or bacteremia at inclusion, and patients with evident resolution of the infectious process had antibiotics stopped after 7 days, despite biomarkers levels. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: Ninety-four patients were randomized 49 patients to the procalcitonin group and 45 patients to the C-reactive protein group. The mean age was 59.8 (SD, 16.8) years. The median duration of antibiotic therapy for the first episode of infection was 7.0 (Q1-Q3, 6.0-8.5) days in the procalcitonin group and 6.0 (Q1-Q3, 5.0-7.0) days in the C-reactive protein group (p=0.13), with a hazard ratio of 1.206 (95% CI, 0.774-1.3; p=0.13). Overall, protocol overruling occurred in only 13 (13.8%) patients. Twenty-one patients died in each group (p=0.836). CONCLUSIONS: C-reactive protein was as useful as procalcitonin in reducing antibiotic use in a predominantly medical population of septic patients, causing no apparent harm.