• Katrine Prier Lindvig, Daniel Pilsgaard Henriksen, Stig Lønberg Nielsen, Thøger Gorm Jensen, Hans Jørn Kolmos, Court Pedersen, Pernille Just Vinholt, and Annmarie Touborg Lassen.
• Department of Emergency Medicine, Odense University Hospital, Sdr, Boulevard 29, 5000 Odense C, Denmark. klindvig4@gmail.com.
• Scand J Trauma Resus. 2014 Jul 15; 22: 39.

ObjectiveAlthough blood cultures are often ordered based on the presence of fever, it is a clinical challenge to identify patients eligible for blood cultures. Our aim was to evaluate the diagnostic value of temperature, C-reactive-protein (CRP), and Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) to identify bacteraemic patients in the Medical Emergency Department (MED).MethodsA population-based cohort study including all adult patients at the MED at Odense University Hospital between August 1st 2009 - August 31st 2011.Results11,988 patients were admitted to the MED within the study period. Blood cultures were performed on 5,499 (45.9%) patients within 2 days of arrival, of which 418 (7.6%) patients were diagnosed with bacteraemia. This corresponded to 3.5% of all patients. 34.1% of the bacteraemic patients had a normal rectal temperature (36.0°-38.0 °C) recorded at arrival, 32.6% had a CRP < 100 mg/L and 28.0% did not fulfil the SIRS criteria.For a temperature cut-point of >38.0 °C sensitivity was 0.64 (95% CI 0.59-0.69) and specificity was 0.81 (0.80-0.82) to identify bacteraemic patients.ConclusionOne third of the acute medical bacteraemic patients had a normal temperature at arrival to the MED. A normal temperature combined with a CRP < 100 mg/L and no SIRS criteria, ruled out bacteraemia.

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