ArticleHospital pharmacy2021
Impact of Pharmacist-Directed Simplified Procalcitonin Algorithm on Antibiotic Therapy in Critically Ill Patients With Sepsis.
Article in Hospital pharmacy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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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.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 4 citations in OpenAlex.
- Bug Wars: Artificial Intelligence Strikes Back in Sepsis Management.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- Use of a Novel Clinical Decision Support Tool for Pharmacist-Led Antimicrobial Stewardship in Patients with Normal Procalcitonin.Pharmacy (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeThe purpose was to determine whether a simplified procalcitonin (PCT) algorithm guided by pharmacist recommendations reduces antibiotic duration of therapy in critically ill patients with suspected sepsis.
methodsThis was a single-centered pre-post study conducted at a 1368-bed community teaching hospital in the United States. A prospective cohort with pharmacist intervention utilizing a simplified PCT algorithm was compared with a retrospective historical cohort with standard therapy. Adult patients admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) with suspected sepsis who received intravenous antibiotics were included. A pharmacist recommended continuation or discontinuation of antibiotics based on the PCT level per our algorithm and full clinical assessment of the patient. Primary outcome was total duration of antibiotic therapy. Secondary outcomes were ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS), reinitiation of antibiotic therapy within 72 hours of discontinuation, and 28-day in-hospital mortality.
resultsFrom September 2017 to May 2018, 360 patients were screened for eligibility. Of these, 26 patients were included in the PCT group and 26 patients in the standard therapy group. Baseline characteristics were similar between groups. A significant difference in duration of antibiotic therapy was detected with a median of 9 days in the PCT group versus 12 days in the standard therapy group (
conclusionUse of a simplified PCT algorithm with pharmacist-guided recommendations significantly reduced the duration of antibiotic therapy in critically ill patients with sepsis.
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