ArticleAnnals of intensive care2017
Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy in intensive care unit patients: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in Annals of intensive care, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 42 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
42 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 92 citations in OpenAlex.
- Efficacy and Safety of Procalcitonin-Guided Antibiotic Therapy versus Standard of Care for Sepsis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Medical principles and practice : international journal of the Kuwait University, Health Science Centre · 2026Pooled it
- Unravelling the complexity of ventilator-associated pneumonia: a systematic methodological literature review of diagnostic criteria and definitions used in clinical research.Critical care (London, England) · 2024Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Cost-effectiveness of procalcitonin testing to guide antibiotic treatment duration in critically ill patients: results from a randomised controlled multicentre trial in the Netherlands.Critical care (London, England) · 2018Trial
- Procalcitonin algorithm to guide initial antibiotic therapy in acute exacerbations of COPD admitted to the ICU: a randomized multicenter study.Intensive care medicine · 2018Trial
- Beyond diagnosis and antibiotic stewardship: a hypothesized additional role for procalcitonin in patients with suspected sepsis.Journal of thoracic disease · 2026Article
- Review
- Association of procalcitonin levels with multidrug-resistant bloodstream infections: a prospective cohort study.BMC infectious diseases · 2026Article
- Postoperative Antibiotic Escalation After Major Free-Flap Reconstruction Requiring ICU Admission: Associations with Day-1 Procalcitonin, Shock, and Microbiological Positivity.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Duration Matters: Tailoring Antibiotic Therapy for Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Review
- Predicting ventilator-associated lower respiratory tract infection outcomes using sequencing-based early microbiological response: a proof-of-concept prospective study.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Observational
- Cost-effectiveness of Procalcitonin (PCT) guidance for antibiotics management of adult sepsis patients in the Egyptian context.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Serum Procalcitonin, Hematology Parameters, and Cell Morphology in Multiple Clinical Conditions and Sepsis.Journal of clinical laboratory analysis · 2024Article
- Critical Care Management of Patients After Cardiac Arrest: A Scientific Statement from the American Heart Association and Neurocritical Care Society.Neurocritical care · 2024Article
- Critical Care Management of Patients After Cardiac Arrest: A Scientific Statement From the American Heart Association and Neurocritical Care Society.Circulation · 2024Review
- Procalcitonin Guided Antibiotic Stewardship.Biomarker insights · 2024Review
- Current Status of Antibiotic Stewardship and the Role of Biomarkers in Antibiotic Stewardship Programs.Infection & chemotherapy · 2022Review
- The role of lung ultrasound in procalcitonin-guided antibiotic discontinuation in ventilator-associated pneumonia.Indian journal of anaesthesia · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Stewardship Using Biomarkers: Accumulating Evidence for the Critically Ill.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSerum procalcitonin (PCT) concentration is used to guide antibiotic decisions in choice, timing, and duration of anti-infection therapy to avoid antibiotic overuse. Thus, we performed a systematic review and meta-analysis to seek evidence of different PCT-guided antimicrobial strategies for critically ill patients in terms of predefined clinical outcomes.
methodsWe searched for relevant studies in PubMed, Embase, Web of Knowledge, and the Cochrane Library up to 25 February 2017. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) were included if they reported data on any of the predefined outcomes in adult ICU patients managed with a PCT-guided algorithm or according to standard care. Results were expressed as risk ratio (RR) or mean difference (MD) with accompanying 95% confidence interval (CI). DATA SYNTHESIS: We included 13 trials enrolling 5136 patients. These studies used PCT in three clinical strategies: initiation, discontinuation, or combination of antibiotic initiation and discontinuation strategies. Pooled analysis showed a PCT-guided antibiotic discontinuation strategy had fewer total days with antibiotics (MD - 1.66 days; 95% CI - 2.36 to - 0.96 days), longer antibiotic-free days (MD 2.26 days; 95% CI 1.40-3.12 days), and lower short-term mortality (RR 0.87; 95% CI 0.76-0.98), without adversely affecting other outcomes. Only few studies reported data on other PCT-guided strategies for antibiotic therapies, and the pooled results showed no benefit in the predefined outcomes.
conclusionsOur meta-analysis produced evidence that among all the PCT-based strategies, only using PCT for antibiotic discontinuation can reduce both antibiotic exposure and short-term mortality in a critical care setting.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.