USEFULNESS OF PROCALCITONIN AS A BIOMARKER IN BURN PATIENTS PLASTIC SURGERYDEPARTMENT, MOHAMMED VI UNIVERSITYHOSPITAL, MARRAKECH, MOROCCO

Infection is the most common complication and cause of death in patients suffering burnsinjuries.These patients are susceptible to infection and burn wound sepsis secondary to the alterations in their physiology .Procalcitonin is an inflammatory biomarkers , the serum concentration of which increases specifically during bacterial infections. For a burn patient, its sometimes difficult to differentiate, on the basis of the clinical examination , those who suffer from an acute inflammatory syndrome from those who show the first signs of a severe bacterial infection. However, a correct diagnosis is essential for the prompt initiation of appropriate treatment . Many markers associated with an infectious state have recently been investigated. Among them , serum pro calcitonin has the best sensitivity and specificity for sepsis or other severe bacterial infections. The aim of this work is to evaluate the impact of the implementation of procalcitonin (PCT) on the management of infected patients in the burns resuscitation department of the plastic surgery department at CHU Med VI.Our study is retrospective , observational, and conducted over a period of 6 months, extending from July 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022, for 24burned patients hospitalized in the intensive care unit of the plastic surgery department .The average age of the patients was 38 years they were predominantly male with a sex ratio of about 1.5 . The average burned skin surface was 27.75% 40.3% had a deepening with signsof skin infection all patients CRP was high 60% had a fever higher than 38.5 13.3% had a stay in the surgical resuscitation department and were discharged a PCT returned positive in 16.6% of patientsthe determination was repeated in 4 patients after 24h returned Negatif 26.6% had a positive bacteriological examination and 40% of patients received antibiotic therapy .PCT maybe used as a useful bio marker for the early diagnosis of burn sepsis in adults, and maybe combined with other diagnostic indexes to further improve the sensitivity and specificity. Thus, even throughout study provides us with the knowledge that the PCT maybe a helpful sepsis biomarker in burned patients, the findings should be viewd with caution.