PCT-guided Treatment Regarding Antibiotic Use for Acute COPD Exacerbations

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a prevalent disease, worldwide, and in the Netherlands with approximately 600.000 patients. COPD is currently the 3rd leading cause of death worldwide and is also a leading cause of disability-adjusted life years. Given the contribution of exacerbations both to loss in quality of life and to health-care costs, it is of paramount importance to improve the current treatment of exacerbations. Pulmonary physicians are well aware of overuse of antibiotics, but lack the tools to decide which medication to give in the clinical setting. Biomarkers may aid towards a more personalized treatment of acute COPD exacerbations (AECOPD). Procalcitonin (PCT), the precursor of calcitonin, is released in response to a bacterial infection by many tissues within 6-12 hours after the onset of infection, while the concentration is only minimally raised in viral infections, making it a relative specific diagnostic tool for bacterial infection. Several trials have shown a reduction in antibiotic consumption in AECOPD when using a PCT-guided treatment algorithm. Recent systematic reviews concluded that appropriately powered trials are lacking to confirm that clinical outcomes are comparable with usual care. In this study the investigators will examine whether a PCT-guided treatment regarding antibiotic therapy is non-inferior to usual care in patients who are admitted because of an acute COPD exacerbation when it comes to treatment failure on day 30.