TY - JOUR T1 - BET 3 JF - Emergency Medicine Journal JO - Emerg Med J SP - 144 LP - 145 DO - 10.1136/emj.2009.088211c VL - 27 IS - 2 A2 - , Y1 - 2010/02/01 UR - http://emj.bmj.com/content/27/2/144.abstract N2 - Report by: Chih-Hung WangChecked by: Zui-Shen YenInstitution: Department of Emergency Medicine, National Taiwan University Hospital and National Taiwan University College of Medicine, Taipei, TaiwanA short-cut review was carried out to establish whether tserum procalcitonin levels assist in the differentiation between septic and non-septic arthritis in patients presening with a swollen and tender joint. Five studies were directly relevant to the question. The author, date and country of publication, patient group studied, study type, relevant outcomes, results and study weaknesses of these studies are shown in table 3. The clinical bottom line is that there is insufficient evidence to support the routine use of serum procalcitonin in the differentiation of septic and non-septic arthritis. However, the specificity is moderately high and current studies show some promise. Further research is needed to answer this question.View this table:In this windowIn a new windowTable 3 Relevant papersThree-part questionIn [a patient with a swollen and tender joint] does [serum … ER -