Point-of-care procalcitonin test to reduce antibiotic exposure in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of COPD

Caspar Corti, Markus Fally, Andreas Fabricius-Bjerre, Katrine Mortensen, Birgitte Nybo Jensen, Helle Frost Andreassen, Celeste Porsbjerg, Jenny Dahl Knudsen, Jens-Ulrik Jensen

40 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Background: This study was conducted to investigate whether point-of-care (POC) procalcitonin (PCT) measurement can reduce redundant antibiotic treatment in patients hospitalized with acute exacerbation of COPD (AECOPD). Methods: One-hundred and twenty adult patients admitted with AECOPD were enrolled in this open-label randomized trial. Patients were allocated to either the POC PCT-guided intervention arm (n=62) or the control arm, in which antibiotic therapy followed local guidelines (n=58). Results: The median duration of antibiotic exposure was 3.5 (interquartile range [IQR] 0–10) days in the PCT-arm vs 8.5 (IQR 1–11) days in the control arm (P=0.0169, Wilcoxon) for the intention-to-treat population. The proportion of patients using antibiotics for ≥5 days within the 28-day follow-up was 41.9% (PCT-arm) vs 67.2% (P=0.006, Fisher’s exact) in the intention-to-treat population. For the per-protocol population, the proportions were 21.1% (PCT-arm) vs 73.9% (P<0.00001, Fisher’s exact). Within 28-day follow-up, one patient died in the PCT-arm and two died in the control arm. A composite harm end point consisting of death, rehospitalization, or intensive care unit admission, all within 28 days, showed no apparent difference. Conclusion: Our study shows that the implementation of a POC PCT-guided algorithm can be used to substantially reduce antibiotic exposure in patients hospitalized with AECOPD, with no apparent harm.

Original languageEnglish
JournalInternational Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (Online)
Volume11
Issue number1
Pages (from-to)1381-9
Number of pages9
ISSN1178-2005
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 22 Jun 2016

Keywords

  • Journal Article

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