Procalcitonin to initiate or discontinue antibiotics in acute respiratory tract infections.

Background: Acute respiratory infections (ARIs) comprise of a large and heterogeneous group of infections including bacterial, viral, and other aetiologies. In recent years, procalcitonin (PCT), a blood marker for bacterial infections, has emerged as a promising tool to improve decisions about antibiotic therapy (PCT-guided antibiotic therapy). Several randomised controlled trials (RCTs) have demonstrated the feasibility of using procalcitonin for starting and stopping antibiotics in different patient populations with ARIs and different settings ranging from primary care settings to emergency departments, hospital wards, and intensive care units.

A Comparison of Single Shot Adductor Canal Block Versus Femoral Nerve Catheter for Total Knee Arthroplasty.

The aim of this study was to compare perioperative analgesia provided by single-injection adductor canal block (ACB) to continuous femoral nerve catheter (FNC) when used in a multimodal pain protocol for total knee arthroplasty (TKA). A retrospective cohort study compared outcome data for 148 patients receiving a single-injection ACB to 149 patients receiving an FNC. The mean length of stay (LOS) in the ACB group was 2.