A Mini-Review of Point-of-Care C-Reactive Protein Testing in Sepsis in the Emergency Department

Timely initiation of appropriate treatment of sepsis in the Emergency Department is crucial in a patient's prognosis. Surviving Sepsis Campaign guidelines suggest improved results in septic shock where antimicrobials are given within 1 hour of presentation. The recognition and treatment of critically ill patients could be expedited using different methods of point-of-care testing as opposed to centralised laboratory testing. C-reactive protein is utilised as a predictor for sepsis prognosis and should be interpreted in conjunction with patient clinical findings due to its low specificity and sensitivity. Some efficient and simple C-reactive protein point-of-care assay kits discussed include immunoturbidimetry, immunonephelometry, lateral flow assays and bioassays, which have advantages over laboratory-based methods, but still require further investigation. A useful tool such as a C-reactive protein point-of-care test could potentially enhance the operational performance of emergency care. Its use in optimizing antibiotic therapy to curb the rate of antimicrobial resistance and improve sepsis outcomes still requires validation. Septic shock management in the Emergency Department continues to be a challenging task and future verification studies and clinical guidelines on biomarkers for point-of-care testing are required to establish its reliability.