Early Low Level of Procalcitonin Is Associated with a Favorable Outcome in a Case of a Surviving Patient with 80% Body Surface Area Thermal Burn

Patient: Male, 28-year-old Final Diagnosis: Burn wound Symptoms: Pain • dyspnea Medication: — Clinical Procedure: — Specialty: Anesthesiology • Critical Care Medicine • Surgery OBJECTIVE: Unusual clinical course BACKGROUND: Burns covering a large skin surface area represent a life-threatening condition due to the release of cytokines and the activation of a systemic inflammatory response, as well as the potential for septic complications. Outcome for these patients is related to the burn surface, age, and coexisting diseases. Although some severity scores are available, such as the Abbreviated Burn Severity Index (ABSI), Baux score, R-Baux score, Boston score, and Belgian Outcome Burn Injury (BOBI) score, none can provide a solid picture of the final outcome. Recent studies claim that procalcitonin, a known sepsis marker, can assist in estimating a burn patient’s chance of survival from the time of admission, and can also assist in estimating the chance of sepsis occurrence during hospitalization. CASE REPORT: In this manuscript we report the case of a 28-year-old man who suffered burn injuries on approximately 80% of his body surface due to poor handling of a gasoline can in August 2018. Despite high severity index scores and early high values of C-reactive protein, we noticed a low level of early procalcitonin. In this case, as well in our previous experience, early low procalcitonin was associated with a favorable outcome. CONCLUSIONS: Early procalcitonin values might prove to be a promising prognosis marker in some cases of extensive burns.