Blood Test Could Slash Sepsis Antibiotics
A new UK clinical trial involving 2,760 patients across 41 intensive care units has found that daily procalcitonin blood tests can help doctors stop antibiotics nearly two days earlier than traditional markers. This approach addresses the growing threat of antimicrobial resistance by reducing unnecessary drug use in critically ill sepsis patients.
Why it matters
Optimizing antibiotic duration in critical care is vital to slowing antimicrobial resistance while maintaining patient safety and lowering healthcare costs.
A simple daily blood test could help critically ill sepsis patients come off antibiotics sooner, potentially reducing drug overuse and helping tackle the growing threat of antibiotic resistance, new research shows.
The study, led by researchers at University of Manchester and Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust, and mainly funded by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), involved 2,760 patients in 41 intensive care units across the UK and is published in the journal Anaesthesia
They found monitoring levels of a blood marker called procalcitonin (PCT) prompted doctors to consider stopping antibiotics significantly earlier than another commonly used marker, C-reactive protein (CRP).
The ADAPT-Sepsis trial examines how doctors respond to automated advice generated from daily blood tests designed to guide decisions on when antibiotic treatment could safely end.
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