title: Comparison of Serum CRP and Procalcitonin in Patients after Spine Surgery.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Classical markers of infection cannot differentiate reliably between inflammation and infection after neurosurgery. This study investigated the dynamics of serum procalcitonin (PCT) in patients who had elective spine surgeries without complications.
  
  
  METHODS
  Participants were 103 patients (47 women, 56 men) who underwent elective spinal surgery. Clinical variables relevant to the study included age, sex, medical history, body mass index (BMI), site and type of surgery, and surgery duration. Clinical and laboratory data were body temperature, white blood cell count (WBC), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), C-reactive protein (CRP) and PCT, all measured preoperatively and postoperatively on days 1, 3, and 5.
  
  
  RESULTS
  PCT concentrations remained at <0.25 ng/mL during the postoperative course except in 2 patients. PCT concentrations did not correlate with age, sex, DM, hypertension, BMI, operation time, operation site, or use of instrumentation. In contrast, CRP concentrations were significantly higher with older age, male, DM, hypertension, longer operation time, cervical operation, and use of instrumentation.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  PCT may be useful in the diagnosing neurosurgical patients with postoperative fever of unknown origin.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Kangbuk Samsung Hospital, Sungkyunkwan University School of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yeon Gu
authors.initials: YG
authors.lastname: Chung
authors.forename: Yu Sam
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Won
authors.forename: Young Joon
authors.initials: YJ
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.forename: Hyun Chul
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Shin
authors.forename: Chun Sik
authors.initials: CS
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Joon-Sup
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Yeom