Abstract
“Postoperative delirium” is defined as delirium occurring in the hospital up to one week after a procedure or before discharge (whichever occurs first) that meets the DSM-5 diagnostic criteria. Objectives: To describe the risk factors related to this pathology and identify effective non-pharmacological forms of treatment. An integrative review of the available literature was performed. The search results considered included all quantitative studies published between 2011 and 2019 in both English and Spanish. A total of 117 studies were selected. Advanced age was identified as the principal risk factor for postoperative delirium. Nursing interventions appear to be the key to preventing or reducing the seriousness of delirium after an anaesthetic episode. The aetiology of postoperative delirium remains unknown, and no treatment exists to eliminate this pathology. The role of nursing staff is fundamental in the prevention, diagnosis, and management of the pathology.
Highlights
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Because postoperative delirium has a higher incidence in the old adult population, this study focuses on this age group
We propose the following objectives related to postoperative delirium: in the first instance, we aim to determine the major factors associated with its onset and development and, in the second instance, we aim to outline the principal treatment methods, distinguishing nursing interventions from pharmacological interventions while determining which drugs have been proven to be useful in the treatment of postoperative delirium and which have not, be studied in the context of post-anaesthesia care units and intensive care units
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Delirium “in general” and “emergency delirium” have been widely studied, while despite a large number of articles published on postoperative delirium, there is inadequate evidence regarding its prevention and management, in terms of both pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatment [5,6,7]. Perception is altered such that the patient may misinterpret reality and have delusions or hallucinations which, in turn, affect their behaviour This may be expressed as fear or aggression towards external stimuli [2,6,8,9]. Patients have periods of lucidity, generally in the morning, with the maximum level of disturbance occurring at night. Unknown environments or those with few external stimuli aggravate the patient’s situation [10,11]
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