Procalcitonin as a marker of postoperative complications

OBJECTIVE: Procalcitonin (PCT) is a 116 amino acid peptide that functions as a pro-hormone for calcitonin in the C cells of the thyroid gland. Large quantities of intact PCT are present in the blood of patients with sepsis, particularly when organ dysfunction occurs. PCT has been proposed as an early marker of postoperative complications. The aim of this study was to examine the diagnostic accuracy of PCT as a marker of postoperative complications by systematically reviewing the existing literature. MATERIAL AND METHODS: The databases PubMed, Embase and the Cochrane Library were searched to find studies on the diagnostic accuracy of PCT in the postoperative phase. Primary studies were retrieved using specific inclusion and exclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of nine studies were included. These studies were heterogeneous regarding the spectrum of patients, complications, design and methodological quality according to QUADAS (quality assessment of studies of diagnostic accuracy). This could explain the marked variation in diagnostic accuracy. Considering all types of complications the sensitivity ranged from 37% to 100% and the specificity from 70% to 100%. On examining the infectious complications separately, it was found that the sensitivity ranged from 70% to 86% and the specificity from 45% to 98%. CONCLUSIONS: Owing to a pronounced heterogeneity among the existing studies, the diagnostic accuracy of PCT as a marker for postoperative complications is not yet sufficiently clarified.