Effect of early intervention on prevention of delirium in patients with elective surgery

Abstract

Objective To investigate the effect of early intervention on the prevention of delirium in patients undergoing elective surgery. Methods Totally 200 patients scheduled for surgery and admitted to ICU during Oct. 2016 to Jun. 2018 were assigned to two groups (n=100). Both the observation group (group A) and the control group (group B) received routine nursing care from wards, operating room and ICU nurses. In addition, the observation group (group A) were intervened by ICU nurses by means of nursing measures to prevent delirium the day before surgery. The differences of delirium incidence, delirium duration, and length of stay in ICU, satisfaction and anxiety scores between the two groups were measured. Results The incidence and duration of delirium, length of stay in ICU, satisfaction rate of ICU, S-AI scores between group A and B were 16% (16/100) vs. 29% (29/100), 4(3.1, 10.6) h vs. 12(9.2, 14.6) h, (33.06 ±16.06) h vs. (39.96±25.47) h and (56.25 ±5.74) vs. (41.59 ±4.94), (50.17±1.56) vs.(52.37±3.52) respectively (χ2=4.129, Z=-2.757, t=2.291,-19.349, 5.718, all P < 0.05). Conclusion Early intervention can effectively prevent and reduce the incidence of ICU delirium in patients undergoing elective surgery. Key words: Delirium; Early stage; Intervention; Elective surgery