Procalcitonin as a Tool to Shorten Antibiotic Therapy in the ICU

The patients assigned to the procalcitonin group had procalcitonin and C reactive protein levels measured at day 0 (bacteremia), 5 or 7 (if positive blood culture) and then every 48 hours until hosptital discharge, death or until the antibiotics were stopped. A predefined procalcitonin protocol was used together with the clinical outcome, to guide the physician´s decision to discontinue antibiotics. The procalcitonin protocol encouraged the physician to discontinue the antibiotics when: 1)procalcitonin dropped more than 90% from the baseline peak level or 2)an absolute value below 0,5ng/mL was reached. Cases in which the antibiotic treatment was continued against what the PCT values indicated were categorized as " antibiotic discontinuation overruling"