Abelha et al.1 prospectively enrolled 562 major surgery patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit. The Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) was used to identify 89 patients (16%) with postoperative delirium. Multivariate analysis with logistic regression model determined that delirium was an independent risk for 6-month mortality and hospital mortality.
Odds Ratio | P Value | |
Hospital mortality | 2.673 | <0.001 |
Mortality at 6-month | 2.562 | <0.001 |
*Adjusted for BMI, body mass index; ASA, American Society of Anesthesiologists; COPD, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease; SICU, surgical intensive care unit; Revised Cardiac Risk Index; APACHE II, Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II. |
Veiga et al.([FOOTNOTE=Veiga D, Luis C, Parente D, et al. Postoperative delirium in intensive care patients: risk factors and outcome. Rev Bras Anestesiol. 2012;62(4):469-483.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) evaluated 680 major surgery patients for postoperative delirium within 24 hours of admission to the PACU/ICU and then every 8 hours thereafter. 18.8% of patients developed postoperative delirium via the Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC). A multivariate regression analysis adjusted for patient factors showed that postoperative delirium was an independent risk factor for hospital mortality.
Odds ratio | P Value | |
Hospital mortality | 4 | < 0.001 |
Mortality at 6-month | 3 | < 0.001 |
*Adjusted to age, ASA Physical status, total Revised Cardiac Risk Index, emergency surgery, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, ischemic heart disease, congestive heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, renal insufficiency, fresh frozen plasma, erythrocytes and troponin I. |
232 elderly patients undergoing major surgery underwent evaluation for postoperative delirium.([FOOTNOTE=Raats JW, van Eijsden WA, Crolla RM, Steyerberg EW, van der Laan L. Risk Factors and Outcomes for Postoperative Delirium after Major Surgery in Elderly Patients. PLoS One. 2015;10(8):e0136071.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) Postoperative delirium was identified in 15% of patients via the Delirium Observation Screening Scale. Outcome was compared in patients with and without delirium. Delirium was related to an increased rate of 30-day and 6-month mortality.
232 elderly patients undergoing major surgery underwent evaluation for postoperative delirium.4 Postoperative delirium was identified in 15% of patients via the Delirium Observation Screening Scale. Outcome was compared in patients with and without delirium. Delirium was related to an increased ICU length of stay.
Gleason et al.2 investigated the association between delirium and patient outcome in elderly patients (≥ 70 years) undergoing major surgery. 23.9% of 566 patients were diagnosed with postoperative delirium. Postoperative delirium was associated with prolonged length of stay (>5 days), institutional discharge, and rehospitalization with 30 days of discharge.
Adjusted Relative Risk | |
Prolonged length of stay (>5 days) | 1.9 |
Institutional discharge | 1.5 |
30-day readmission | 2.3 |
*Adjusted for age, sex, race, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, surgery type (orthopedic vs all others), and anesthesia type (general vs spinal). |
Brown et al.([FOOTNOTE=Brown CHt, Laflam A, Max L, et al. The Impact of Delirium After Cardiac Surgical Procedures on Postoperative Resource Use. Ann Thorac Surg. 2016;101(5):1663-1669.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) postoperatively evaluated 66 cardiac surgery patients for postoperative delirium. A propensity score model adjusted for patient related and surgical characteristics found that patients with delirium have greater median hospital charges by $10,339 (p=0.02).
Zywiel et al.([FOOTNOTE=Zywiel MG, Hurley RT, Perruccio AV, Hancock-Howard RL, Coyte PC, Rampersaud YR. Health economic implications of perioperative delirium in older patients after surgery for a fragility hip fracture. J Bone Joint Surg Am. 2015;97(10):829-836.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) evaluated 242 elderly (≥ 65 years) patients undergoing surgical repair of fragility hip fracture at a single institution for postoperative delirium A propensity matching analysis was performed to create matching pairs of patients with delirium and without delirium with similar covariates. Postoperative delirium was associated with increased hospital length of stay and mean episode-of-care cost.
Delirium associated incremental postoperative length of stay | 7.4 days |
Delirium associated incremental mean episode-of-care cost | 8373 USD |
Quinlan et al.([FOOTNOTE=Quinlan N, Rudolph JL. Postoperative delirium and functional decline after noncardiac surgery. J Am Geriatr Soc. 2011;59 Suppl 2:S301-304.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) evaluated the social and independent function of 948 non-cardiac surgery patients preoperatively and 3 months postoperatively. Additionally, each patient was assessed for postoperative delirium. A multivariate analysis was performed to determine the association between postoperative delirium and functional decline after adjustment for age, sex, education, cognition, and surgery duration.
Koster et al.([FOOTNOTE=Koster S, Hensens AG, Schuurmans MJ, van der Palen J. Consequences of delirium after cardiac operations. Ann Thorac Surg. 2012;93(3):705-711.],[ANCHOR=],[LINK=]) assessed perception, memory, and motor function measures in 300 elective cardiac surgery patients 6-months after the procedure. Patients were evaluated for postoperative delirium in the postoperative period. Postoperative delirium was associated with reduced quality of life.
Abelha et al.1 prospectively enrolled 562 major surgery patients admitted to a surgical intensive care unit. The Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) was used to identify 89 patients (16%) with postoperative delirium. Multivariate analysis with logistic regression model was performed to determine the association between postoperative delirium and patient outcome. Delirium was an independent risk for being dependent for personal activities of daily living at 6-months.
Odds ratio | P Value | |
Risk of being dependent for personal ADL in patient with delirium | 2.188 | <0.046 |
Gleason et al.2 investigated the association between delirium and patient outcome in elderly patients (≥ 70 years) undergoing major surgery. 23.9% of 566 patients were diagnosed with postoperative delirium. Postoperative delirium was associated with institutional discharge compared to patients without delirium.
Adjusted* Relative Risk | |
Institutional discharge | 1.5 |
* Adjusted for age, sex, race, Charlson Comorbidity Index score, surgery type (orthopedic vs all others), and anesthesia type (general vs spinal). |