Procalcitonin as a useful marker to decide upon intervention for urinary tract infection

BACKGROUND Because the use of procalcitonin has been advocated as a marker of bacterial infection, this study was carried out to determine the usefulness of serum PCT as an early marker to decide upon intervention for urinary tract infection. METHODS The subjects were 68 patients with urinary tract infection (UTI) in whom we measured serum procalcitonin concentration at the start of treatment. RESULTS There were 47 patients with nonobstructed UTI and 21 with obstructed UTI. All patients with obstructed UTI were subjected to intervention. There were significant differences in procalcitonin, white blood cells, and creatinine levels between patients with nonobstructed and obstructed UTI (P < 0.05). CONCLUSION Although this retrospective study comprised a small number of patients, we found that procalcitonin was a useful marker to decide upon urinary intervention.