Prognostic Nutritional Index Enhances the Discriminatory Ability of Procalcitonin for Predicting Pediatric Sepsis

Objective. Improving diagnostic ability of pediatric sepsis is of great significance for reducing the mortality of sepsis. This study explored the discriminatory capacity of nutritional index (PNI) in pediatric sepsis. Methods. We retrospectively enrolled 134 children with suspected sepsis and collected their clinical and laboratory data. Receiver operating characteristic curves (ROC), decision curve analysis (DCA) and net reclassification improvement (NRI) were performed to compare the predictive significance of the PNI, procalcitonin (PCT) and their combination. Results. Among 134 patients, 65 children were diagnosed with sepsis and 69 children with non-sepsis. PCT and PNI were independently associated with pediatric sepsis. PCT was superior to PNI to predict pediatric sepsis. The model based on PCT + PNI improved the predictive capacity than them alone, as demonstrated by ROC, DCA and NRI, respectively. Conclusion. PNI was independently associated with pediatric sepsis, and addition of PNI could improve the capacity of PCT to predict pediatric sepsis.