Delirium News and Research

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Delirium is a mental state in which a person is confused, disoriented, and not able to think or remember clearly. The person may also be agitated and have hallucinations, and extreme excitement.

Texas-based hospital develops an integrated approach to reduce ventilation time

Mechanical ventilation can provide lifesaving respiratory support for critically ill patients; however, prolonged ventilation time is associated with numerous complications, even after the patient leaves the hospital.

23 Apr 2020

What does recovery from COVID-19 look like? It depends. A pulmonologist explains.

Reports of recovery from serious illness caused by the coronavirus have been trickling in from around the world.

9 Apr 2020

Standardized screening for early identification of delirium improves quality of care

A concerted effort to standardize delirium assessment and treatment helped a west Texas hospital reduce the use of high-risk medications and improve the quality of care for critically ill patients, according to a study published in Critical Care Nurse.

2 Apr 2020

Music appears to decrease delirium in critically ill patients

It is common for critically ill patients on life support to develop delirium, a form of acute brain failure for which no effective treatment is known.

10 Mar 2020

New step-by-step framework to assist providers treating older patients with chronic pain

Pain management can be safely optimized with a plan that balances the risks and benefits of treatments, according to a commentary in Mayo Clinic Proceedings. Treating chronic pain is best achieved when pharmacologic strategies and nondrug therapies are used at the same time.

2 Mar 2020

U.S. medical panel thinks twice about pushing cognitive screening for dementia

A leading group of medical experts on Tuesday declined to endorse cognitive screening for older adults, fueling a debate that has simmered for years.

25 Feb 2020

UTHealth Consortium On Aging leads movement to improve health care for older adults

When she asked an elderly patient, who had high blood pressure and diabetes, what was most important to her, Jessica Lee, MD, MS, was surprised by the answer.

20 Feb 2020

Tailoring care for older patients after emergency surgery can greatly improves outcomes

Tailoring care for older patients who have had emergency surgery can reduce complications and deaths, decrease the length of hospital stays and cut down on the need for alternate care at discharge, according to a new study led a University of Alberta researcher.

18 Feb 2020

Beyond burnout: Docs decry ‘moral injury’ from financial pressures of health care

Dr. Keith Corl was working in a Las Vegas emergency room when a patient arrived with chest pain. The patient, wearing his street clothes, had a two-minute exam in the triage area with a doctor, who ordered an X-ray and several other tests.

4 Feb 2020

Finding opens door to early identification of individuals at risk for delirium complications

Regenstrief Institute and Indiana University School of Medicine researchers have identified blood-based biomarkers associated with both delirium duration and severity in critically ill patients. This finding opens the door to easy, early identification of individuals at risk for longer delirium duration and higher delirium severity and could potentially lead to new treatments of this brain failure for which drugs have been shown to be largely ineffective.

22 Jan 2020

Study explores the effect of antipsychotics on older hospitalized patients

Delirium (sudden confusion or a rapid change in mental state) remains a serious challenge for our health care system.

6 Jan 2020

New software helps prevent ICU delirium and improve patient outcomes

Intensive care unit delirium, a fertile area of clinical research and patient care innovation associated with Vanderbilt University Medical Center, is beginning to reshape how commercial electronic health record systems are engineered with regard to intensive care.

22 Dec 2019

Spine surgery is safe in advanced-age patient group

Spine surgeons from seven institutions in Sapporo, Hokkaido, Japan, conducted a multicenter, prospective study of spine surgeries performed in patients 80 years of age and older.

17 Dec 2019

Treating the whole patient essential for older people with cardiovascular disease

Geriatric conditions such as frailty and cognitive impairments may inadvertently worsen when older patients are treated in cardiac intensive care units - even as they receive excellent care for their heart attack, heart failure, valvular heart disease or pulmonary embolism, according to a new scientific statement from the American Heart Association, published today in the Association's premier journal Circulation.

9 Dec 2019

UC San Diego Health joins national initiative to improve care for seniors

According to the National Council of Aging, approximately 92 percent of seniors have at least one chronic disease and 77 percent have at least two.

2 Dec 2019

Gene linked to Alzheimer’s plays indirect role in increasing delirium risk

Marked by acute temporary confusion, disorientation and/or agitation, postoperative delirium is the most common post-surgical complication in older adults, striking as many as half of adults older than 65 who undergo high-risk procedures such as cardiac surgery or hip replacements.

21 Nov 2019

Researchers evaluate short- and long-term employment impacts to ICU patients

In recent years, national attention has been drawn to the plight of patients who have experienced the unintended side effects of prolonged ICU care, such as memory loss, muscle weakness and depression.

12 Nov 2019

Using music to decrease delirium in mechanically-ventilated older ICU patients

Researchers from the Regenstrief Institute and Mayo Clinic are leading the first study to test whether exposure to music can decrease delirium in older adults who are receiving mechanical ventilation in the Intensive Care Unit of a hospital.

1 Nov 2019

Family members can help reduce the incidence of post-operative delirium by up to 16.8%

In a study published today in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers reported that training family members in delirium prevention approaches can significantly reduce the incidence of post-operative delirium by up to 16.8 percent within seven days after surgery.

21 Oct 2019

‘Fear of falling’: How hospitals do even more harm by keeping patients in bed

Dorothy Twigg was living on her own, cooking and walking without help until a dizzy spell landed her in the emergency room. She spent three days confined to a hospital bed, allowed to get up only to use a bedside commode.

17 Oct 2019