The investigators' objective is to compare the risk of treatment failure\* in children admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) with sepsis and managed by procalcitonin guided therapy for stopping of antibiotics ('PCT- guided therapy' group) with those managed with standard practices based on the evidence based guidelines ('control' group). Children with suspected or proven sepsis will be randomized to the PCT guided group or the standard practices group and will be followed up for the outcome measures that include treatment failure and mortality. The investigators plan to enroll 560 patients over a period of 3 years. The investigators believe that the proposed study will provide the answer to reducing unnecessary antibiotic usage in the PICU without causing any harm to the patient in the form of treatment failure and/or mortality.
See this in plain English?
AI-rewrites the medical criteria so a patient or caregiver can understand them. Always confirm with the trial site.
Treatment failure
Timeframe: From day of stopping first course of antibiotic therapy till day 7 after stopping antibiotics