| Summary: | Background/Aim. Critically ill patients are at very high risk of developing
severe infections in intensive care units (ICUs). Procalcitonin (PCT) levels
are eleveted in the circulation in patients with bacterial sepsis and PCT
might be useful in guiding antibiotic treatment. The aim of this study was to
estimate factors influencing patients survival and treatment cost in ICU with
special emphasis on the impact of PCT serum levels use in guiding
antimicrobial therapy. Methods. The study was conducted from August 2010 to
May 2012 in the Intensive Therapy Unit, Clinic of Anesthesiology and
Intensive Therapy, Military Medical Academy (MMA), Belgrade, Serbia. All
adult critically ill patients with sepsis and/or trauma admitted in the ICU
were included in the study. This study included only the cost of
antimicrobial therapy in the ICU and the cost for PCT analysis. We used
prices valid in the MMA for the year 2012. PCT in serum was measured by
homogeneous immunoassay on a Brahms Kryptor analyzer. Results. A total of 102
patients were enrolled. The mean patients age was 55 ± 19 years and 61.8% of
patients were male. The mean length of stay (LOS) in the ICU was 12 ± 21
days. There was a statistically significant difference (p < 0.001) between
the sepsis and trauma group regarding outcome (higher mortality rate was in
the sepsis group, particularly in the patients with peritonitis who were
mostly women). The patients younger than 70 years had better chance of
survival. LOS, the use of carbapenems and PCT-measurement influenced the cost
of therapy in the ICU. Conclusions. The obtained results show that age, the
diagnosis and gender were the main predictors of survival of critically ill
patients in the ICU. The cost of ICU stay was dependent on LOS, use of
carbapenems and PCT measurement although the influence of these three factors
on the outcome in the patients did not reach a statistical significance.
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