Procalcitonin in early prediction of acute severe pancreatitis

The aim of the study was to analyze the prognostic potential of procalcitonin in acute pancreatitis complicated by ascites-peritonitis.

Materials and methods: The study analyzed the results of a comprehensive examination and treatment of 18 patients with acute pancreatitis complicated by enzymatic ascites-peritonitis, including 13 patients who were treated in the surgical department of KP "Poltava Regional Clinical Hospital. MV Sklifosovsky POR ", and 5 patients of other emergency hospitals in Poltava, in the period from 2017 to 2019. In addition to standard screening methods, these patients were additionally tested for procalcitonin to predict an adverse course in the early period.

Results: To assess the relationship between the presence of elevated procalcitonin levels at the time of hospitalization of 0.5 ng / ml and above and unsatisfactory treatment results, differences were assessed using an accurate Fisher test. When comparing differences in the development of infectious complications in the dynamics of the disease in patients of the study group depending on the presence of elevated concentrations of procalcitonin or its absence at the time of hospitalization, a significant difference was found (p <0.05).

Conclusions: In our opinion, the use of procalcitonin as a predictor of infectious complications in the dynamics of the disease will determine the category of patients in whom reducing the risk of flora translocation through the use of early oral antibiotic prophylaxis and parenteral drugs tropic to pancreatic tissue may reduce the incidence of purulent complications. In another category of patients, antibacterial therapy is not advisable due to the low risk of purulent-septic complications.