Abstract: OBJECTIVE To study the value of procalcitonin (PCT) and C-reactive protein (CRP) in diagnosis of elderly patients with intracranial infection s after craniocerebral surgery and prediction of prognosis.METHODS A total of 84 elderly patients who underwent craniotomy in department of neurosurgery of the hospital from May 2014 to Jun 2016 were enrolled in the study and divided into the infection group and the non-infection group according to the status of intracranial infections. The levels of PCT, CRP, and white blood cell (WBC) counting were observed and compared between the two groups of patients; the sensitivity and specificity of the indexes were evaluated and compared.RESULTSThe levels of PCT, CRP, and WBC of the patients in the infection group were remarkably elevated after they had the intracranial infections and were significantly higher than those of the patients in the non-infection group (P＜0.05).The levels of PCT and CRP of the infection group gradually returned to normal after the anti-infection treatment, and there was significant difference in the PCT level on Day 2 of treatment and the day of onset of infection (P＜0.05), however, there was significant difference in the CRP level on Day 3 of treatment and the day of onset of infection (P＜0.05).The sensitivity of PCT in diagnosis of the postoperative intracranial infections was 91.67%, the specificity 88.89%; the sensitivity of CRP in diagnosis of the postoperative intracranial infection was 89.13%, the specificity 80.56%; the sensitivity of WBC was 77.78%, the specificity 72.22%; the sensitivity, specificity, area under curve, and 95%CI of the PCT were the highest among the three indexes; the sensitivity and specificity of the CRP were higher than those of the WBC.CONCLUSIONThe sensitivity and specificity of PCT and CRP are high in the diagnosis of the elderly patients with intracranial infections after craniocerebral surgery, and the change of the levels of PCT and CRP may effectively facilitate the prediction of prognosis of the patients.