Question Do critically ill adult patients hospitalized for suspected sepsis and treated with intravenous antibiotics based on procalcitonin (PCT) or C-reactive protein (CRP) protocols, have a safe reduction in treatment duration compared with standard care?
Findings In this multicenter, randomized trial of 2760 patients, the daily PCT-guided protocol reduced total antibiotic duration and had noninferior all-cause mortality compared with standard care. No difference was found in total antibiotic duration between standard care and daily CRP-guided protocol, and CRP showed inconclusive results for all-cause mortality.
Meaning In hospitalized adults, daily PCT-guided protocol reduced antibiotic duration safely compared with standard care, but daily CRP-guided protocol does not.
2 Medical News 