Trial reportAnaesthesiology intensive therapy2021
Efficacy and safety of the point-of-care procalcitonin test for determining the antibiotic treatment duration in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia in the intensive care unit: a randomised controlled trial.
Trial report in Anaesthesiology intensive therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06395454 (Procalcitonin as a Sepsis Biomarker in Guiding Antibiotics Treatment Duration in Ventilator Associated Pneumonia in Neuro-ICU), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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.
Procalcitonin as a Sepsis Biomarker in Guiding Antibiotics Treatment Duration in Ventilator Associated Pneumonia in Neuro-ICU: A Randomised Controlled Trial
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 25 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Guideline
- Procalcitonin-guided antibiotic therapy may shorten length of treatment and may improve survival-a systematic review and meta-analysis.Critical care (London, England) · 2023Pooled it
- The Role and Importance of Procalcitonin (PCT) Testing in Rational Antibiotic Prescribing and Antibiotic Stewardship Programs.Immunity, inflammation and disease · 2026Review
- Article
- Antibiotic duration for common bacterial infections-a systematic review.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2025Review
- Duration of Antimicrobial Treatment in Adult Patients with Pneumonia: A Narrative Review.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Guidelines for Antibiotics Prescription in Critically Ill Patients.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2024Article
- The role of stress hyperglycemia and hyperlactatemia in non-diabetic patients with myocardial infarction treated with percutaneous coronary intervention.Cardiology journal · 2024Observational
- Procalcitonin Guided Antibiotic Stewardship.Biomarker insights · 2024Review
- Article
- C-reactive protein and procalcitonin use in adults in low- and middle-income countries: a narrative review.JAC-antimicrobial resistance · 2023Review
- Comparison of a short versus long-course antibiotic therapy for ventilator-associated pneumonia: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.EClinicalMedicine · 2023Article
- Monitoring of the Forgotten Immune System during Critical Illness-A Narrative Review.Medicina (Kaunas, Lithuania) · 2022Review
- Guidelines for the Use of Procalcitonin for Rational Use of Antibiotics.Indian journal of critical care medicine : peer-reviewed, official publication of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine · 2022Article
- Antimicrobial Stewardship Using Biomarkers: Accumulating Evidence for the Critically Ill.Antibiotics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionThis study was conducted to assess the efficacy of point-of-care (POC) procalcitonin (PCT) serial measurement in determining the antibiotic treatment duration in patients with ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP). MATERIAL AND
methodsOne hundred patients were randomly recruited and then further randomly divided into two groups of 50 patients each. The first group used the POC PCT test along with the standard sepsis parameter monitoring, while the second group had the standard monitoring only (C-reactive protein [CRP] level, total white count, temperature and tracheal aspirate culture). Serial PCT test results and CRP levels were monitored on days 1, 3, 7 and 9. The patients were followed up for 28-day mortality.
resultsEighty-five patients completed the trial, of whom 43 were in the PCT group and 42 were in the control group. The PCT group had a significantly lower mean (SD) antibiotic treatment duration (10.28 [2.68] days) than the control group (11.52 [3.06]). The mean (SD) difference was -1.25 (95% confidence interval [CI], -2.48 to 0.01; t-statistic [df] = -1.997 [83]; P = 0.049). The PCT group also had a higher number of antibiotic-free days alive during the 28 days after VAP onset than the control group (mean [SD], 10.79 [7.61] vs. 8.72 [6.41]). The Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score was the sole factor for the decrease in duration after VAP onset (regression coefficient β [95% CI], -0.70 [-1.19 to -0.20]; P = 0.006).
conclusionsThe POC procalcitonin test can reduce the antibiotic treatment duration in patients with VAP.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.