The evalue of procalcitonin detection in guiding antibiotic use

Objective To investigate the clinical value of the procalcitonin (PCT) measurement in preventing the occurrence of the bacterial drug resistance and reducing the overuse of antibiotics. Methods 400 inpatients without thyroid dysfunction but with suspected bacterial infections in our hospital from June 2012 to April 2013 were screeded out. Under the patient's informed consent and the allowable condition, the routine treatment group (200 cases) and the PCT guidance group (200 cases) were obtained. Then, the antibiotic use time, hospitalization duration and hospitalization expenses were retrospectively anlyzed in the two groups. Meanwhile, the PCT guidance group was dynamically monitored. Results The mean antibiotic therapeutic time in the PCT guidance group was shorter than that in the routine treatment group; the average hospitalization days had statistical difference between the two groups (P