Point-of-Care Procalcitonin to Guide the Discontinuation of Antibiotic Treatment in the Intensive Care Unit: A Malaysian Randomised Controlled Trial

@#Introduction: This work aims to establish the practicality of simple point-of-care (POC) measurements of procalcitonin (PCT) coupled with the standard PCT-guided antibiotic treatment discontinuation algorithm to guide the cessation of antibiotic treatment in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: In this randomised-controlled trial, 80 adult patients with suspected bacterial infections were randomised to either the POC PCT-guided arm (n = 40) or the standard-of-care arm (n = 40). The decision to discontinue antibiotic treatment in the POC PCT-guided arm was based on the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment discontinuation strategy, which states that discontinuation is urged once the PCT concentration has reduced by ≥ 80% or to < 0.5 ng/mL. In the standard-of-care arm, the antibiotic-treatment duration followed the local guidelines. Results: The median duration of antibiotic treatment was 6.5 [IQR = 5.0-7.0] days in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 7.5 [IQR = 5.0-14.0] days in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.010). The mean antibiotic-free days in the first 30 days after study inclusion was 20.7 (SD = 5.3) days in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 16.4 (SD = 7.4) days in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.004). The number of patients who took an antibiotic for more than 10 days was 2 (5%) in the POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment arm versus 13 (32.5%) in the standard-of-care arm (p = 0.002). Conclusion: Antibiotic use in patients with symptoms of bacterial infections in the ICU was substantially minimised with the installation of a POC PCT-guided antibiotic-treatment cessation.

Novel Usage of Dexmetomidine In A Paediatric Patient With Giant Tongue Haemangioma

Giant haemangioma of the tongue is a disease which can obstruct the oropharyngeal airway and is presented with obstructive symptoms. Due to its vascularity, inserting laryngoscope for intubation can cause high risks, such as inducing bleeding. Hypoxia and excessive bleeding must be anticipated while securing the airway. We present a case of novel usage of dexmetomidine as a conscious sedation agent for awake fibre optic intubation in a 9-year-old child with obstructive symptoms secondary to a huge tongue haemangioma, who was presented for interventional sclerotherapy of the lesion.