Delirium In Intensive Care Unit Research Articles

ICU delirium burden predicts functional neurologic outcomes.

BackgroundWe investigated the effect of delirium burden in mechanically ventilated patients, beginning in the ICU and continuing throughout hospitalization, on functional neurologic outcomes up to 2.5 years following critical illness.MethodsProspective cohort study of enrolling 178 consecutive mechanically ventilated adult medical and surgical ICU patients between October 2013 and May 2016. Altogether, patients were assessed daily for delirium 2941days using the Confusion Assessment Method for the ICU (CAM-ICU). Hospitalization delirium burden (DB) was quantified as number of hospital days with delirium divided by total days at risk. Survival status up to 2.5 years and neurologic outcomes using the Glasgow Outcome Scale were recorded at discharge 3, 6, and 12 months post-discharge.ResultsOf 178 patients, 19 (10.7%) were excluded from outcome analyses due to persistent coma. Among the remaining 159, 123 (77.4%) experienced delirium. DB was independently associated with >4-fold increased mortality at 2.5 years following ICU admission (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 4.77; 95% CI, 2.10–10.83; P < .001), and worse neurologic outcome at discharge (adjusted odds ratio [aOR], 0.02; 0.01–0.09; P < .001), 3 (aOR, 0.11; 0.04–0.31; P < .001), 6 (aOR, 0.10; 0.04–0.29; P < .001), and 12 months (aOR, 0.19; 0.07–0.52; P = .001). DB in the ICU alone was not associated with mortality (HR, 1.79; 0.93–3.44; P = .082) and predicted neurologic outcome less strongly than entire hospital stay DB. Similarly, the number of delirium days in the ICU and for whole hospitalization were not associated with mortality (HR, 1.00; 0.93–1.08; P = .917 and HR, 0.98; 0.94–1.03, P = .535) nor with neurological outcomes, except for the association between ICU delirium days and neurological outcome at discharge (OR, 0.90; 0.81–0.99, P = .038).ConclusionsDelirium burden throughout hospitalization independently predicts long term neurologic outcomes and death up to 2.5 years after critical illness, and is more predictive than delirium burden in the ICU alone and number of delirium days.

Dexmedetomidine and paralytic exposure after damage control laparotomy: risk factors for delirium? Results from the EAST SLEEP-TIME multicenter trial

To evaluate factors associated with ICU delirium in patients who underwent damage control laparotomy (DCL), with the hypothesis that benzodiazepines and paralytic infusions would be associated with increased delirium risk. We also sought to evaluate the differences in sedation practices between trauma (T) and non-trauma (NT) patients. We reviewed retrospective data from 15 centers in the EAST SLEEP-TIME registry admitted from January 1, 2017 to December 31, 2018. We included all adults undergoing DCL, regardless of diagnosis, who had completed daily Richmond Agitation Sedation Score (RASS) and Confusion Assessment Method-ICU (CAM-ICU). We excluded patients younger than 18years, pregnant women, prisoners and patients who died before the first re-laparotomy. Data collected included age, number of re-laparotomies after DCL, duration of paralytic infusion, duration and type of sedative and opioid infusions as well as daily CAM-ICU and RASS scores to analyze risk factors associated with the proportion of delirium-free/coma-free ICU days during the first 30days (DF/CF-ICU-30) using multivariate linear regression. A 353 patient subset (73.2% trauma) from the overall 567-patient cohort had complete daily RASS and CAM-ICU data. NT patients were older (58.9 ± 16.0years vs 40.5 ± 17.0years [p < 0.001]). Mean DF/CF-ICU-30days was 73.7 ± 96.4% for the NT and 51.3 ± 38.7% in the T patients (p = 0.030). More T patients were exposed to Midazolam, 41.3% vs 20.3% (p = 0.002). More T patients were exposed to Propofol, 91.0% vs 71.9% (p < 0.001) with longer infusion times in T compared to NT (71.2 ± 85.9 vs 48.9 ± 69.8h [p = 0.017]). Paralytic infusions were also used more in T compared to NT, 34.8% vs 18.2% (p < 0.001). Using linear regression, dexmedetomidine infusion and paralytic infusions were associated with decreases in DF/CF-ICU-30, (- 2.78 (95%CI [- 5.54, - 0.024], p = 0.040) and (- 7.08 ([- 13.0, - 1.10], p = 0.020) respectively. Although the relationship between paralytic use and delirium is well-established, the observation that dexmedetomidine exposure is independently associated with increased delirium and coma is novel and bears further study.

A Rare Case of Concurrent New-Onset Microscopic Polyangiitis and Thrombotic Thrombocytopenic Purpura in a 77-Year-Old Woman

Introduction:Microscopic polyangiits (MPA) is a rare ANCA-associated necrotizing vasculitis that affects the small vessels, often involving the lung or kidney. When presenting with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage, this disease warrants emergent treatment, often with plasma exchange. Here, we present a rare case of a patient presenting with alveolar hemorrhage in the setting of MPA and concurrent thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) with an extremely reduced ADAMTS13 activity.Case Report:A 77 y/o woman with HTN and PUD presented to outside facility with new onset anemia (Hb 6.3 g/dL). Positive Coombs test gave her a tentative diagnosis of hemolytic anemia, and she was transfused 2 U RBCs. Ten days later, she presented to our hospital with respiratory distress. Hb remained stable at 10.7 but had leukocytosis with WBC 22,000 with left shift, platelets 439. Vitals not consistent with sepsis though saturating 70-80% on room air. In the ED, she developed frank hemoptysis and was emergently intubated. CTA chest was negative for pulmonary embolus but demonstrated diffuse ground-glass opacities. COVID test negative. Bronchoscopy was consistent with diffuse alveolar hemorrhage (DAH), and she received tranexamic acid, crystalloids, 1 U RBCs. Suspicious for underlying vasculitic process, she was given pulse dose IV steroids (1 g methylprednisolone daily) and started plasma exchange. Creatinine on presentation was elevated at 1.77 but she continued to have adequate urine output and appropriate volume status. Her hospital course was marked by progressive thrombocytopenia with schistocytes appreciated on peripheral smear. ADAMTS13 activity <5% with inhibitor detected, consistent with TTP. Vasculitic workup revealed positive myeloperoxidase antibodies and p-ANCA consistent with MPA. Other rheumatologic workup ANA positive 1:640 and positive IgM cardiolipin antibodies; she had no personal autoimmune history but some family autoimmune disease including one daughter with systemic lupus erythematosus and another relative with Guillian-Barre. She remained intubated for 4 days and post-extubation experienced some short-lived ICU delirium but after made a remarkable recovery. She completed 12 total sessions of of plasma exchange and 3 of 4 planned doses of rituximab, to continue on oral steroids outpatient and prophylactic TMP-SMX. She was discharged to rehab facility on hospital day 20.Discussion:With diffuse alveolar hemorrhage on presentation, initial differential remained broad including delayed presentation of transfusion-related lung injury (TRALI) given recent history of transfusion. She had recently started hydralazine outpatient. Along with positive ANA, this could suggest drug-induced lupus. However, histone antibodies were negative, but results may have been compromised by steroids and plasma exchange. Both MPA and TTP can be deadly but are managed with similar treatment. Luckily, our patient was rapidly initiated on plasma exchange following hospitalization. Although further workup including ADAMTS13 and vasculitis labs were pending at the time, it is important to not delay treatment while awaiting results. Cased of concurrent TTP and ANCA-associated vasculitis have been described in the literature, but the full relationship between these two entities remains unclear. TTP may develop after starting glucocorticoids in the setting of ANCA vasculitis, so close monitoring is recommended. DisclosuresNo relevant conflicts of interest to declare.

A survey of nurses’ opinions about delirium in ICU

Introduction: Delirium is underdiagnosed especially in ICU. In a study done in the Netherlands investigators found not only ICU nurses but also intensivists had difficulty in diagnosing delirium. With the impact that delirium has on patients’ health, its monitoring and detection should be considered an integral part of patient care in critical care medicine, Knowledge and attitude are one of the primary unmet needs regarding early detection and treatment of delirium. Since nurses are the first line assessors in any ward we would like to carry out this cross-sectional survey on a group of nurses.&#x0D; Objective: To assess the nurses’ knowledge about delirium &amp; to compare the knowledge between those that have worked in ICU or critical care to those who haven’t.&#x0D; Methodology: This was a cross-sectional survey carried out at Birat medical college and teaching hospital. Here all nurses were requested to fill a questionnaire that consisted of 15 questions. A time-frame of 1 week was taken to gather the data.&#x0D; Results: We collected data from 124 nurses, who had varying educational degrees, Eighty-four were currently working in an ICU and 32.5% of those not working had previously worked in an ICU. Over all knowledge level for nurses was poor where 94 of 124 nurses had less than 50% scores. About 27% of those who had worked in an ICU setting had good knowledge compared to 17.5% of those who had not. &#x0D; Conclusion: Training regarding delirium is required to increase identification and adequate management to decrease morbidity due to delirium.

Melatonin Administration Patterns for Pediatric Inpatients in a Tertiary Children's Hospital.

Melatonin has been trialed with reported increasing use for sleep dysregulation and prevention of ICU delirium in critically ill adults; however, reports of use in hospitalized pediatric patients are limited. We anecdotally observed an increase in prescribing of melatonin in our tertiary care children's hospital and therefore aimed to retrospectively characterize prescribing practices over time. Melatonin dispensing data over a 4-year time frame were extracted. Melatonin doses were categorized as being either ICU or non-ICU administered and dosed during daytime versus nighttime, respectively. Descriptive statistics were used to characterize patients who were administered melatonin, dosing information, and quantitative change in annual melatonin orders between areas. The comparison of daytime versus nighttime melatonin administrations and ratio of administrations between ICU and non-ICU areas for each study year were compared via χ2 test. Administration of melatonin increased 246.2% between years 1 and 3, with a shift from predominance in ICU to non-ICU areas over the study period (P < .0001). The average dosing varied by age, with the most frequent dose being 5 mg (28.3%), predominantly in patients ≥12 years of age. Ninety-eight percent (n = 9434) of doses were scheduled for nighttime administration, suggesting an indication of sleep regulation. There were significantly more daytime administrations of melatonin in non-ICU areas (P < .0001). Prescribing of melatonin for pediatric inpatients has increased substantially over a 4-year period, despite limited research on dosing, in this single-center. Further research is needed to determine best practices for melatonin prescribing for hospitalized children.

A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis on the Effect of Delirium Prevention Intervention in Korean Intensive Care Units

Purpose This study aimed to systematically review the preventive interventions for delirium in Korean intensive care unit (ICU) patients and evaluate their efficacy. Methods For this systematic review and metaanalysis, we searched the literature and selected studies from data sources that included the RISS, KISS, National Central Library, National Assembly Library, DBpia, Science on, MEDLINE, and Cochrane Library. We used Cochrane's revised tool for risk of bias in randomized trials and non-randomized studies of intervention tools to assess the quality of the selected studies. The effect size of the intervention was calculated as odds ratio (OR) and standardized mean difference (SMD). Results Preventive interventions reported in 23 studies with a total of 4,799 ICU patients were effective in reducing the occurrence of delirium (OR=0.64, 95% CI: 0.49~0.91, p=.011), but not the duration (SMD=–0.22, 95% CI: −0.51∼0.08, p=.148). As a result of a subgroup analysis, non-pharmacological interventions were effective in reducing the occurrence of delirium (OR=0.66, 95% CI: 0.47~0.94, p=.020), while pharmacological interventions had no effect (OR=0.68, 95% CI: 0.33∼1.40, p=.295). Among the nonpharmacological interventions, multicomponent intervention had the largest effect size (OR=0.38, 95% CI: 0.26~0.55, p<.001). Conclusion Non-pharmacological interventions were effective in reducing the occurrence of delirium. We recommend the development and application of multicomponent interventions to prevent delirium in the Korean ICU patients. Key Words: Delirium, Intensive care unit, Nonpharmacological, Prevention, metaanalysis 주요어: 섬망, 중환자실, 비약물, 예방, 메타분석

Delirium in Intensive Care Units: Perceptions of Physicians and Nurses.

Delirium is an indicator of morbidity and mortality in intensive care unit (ICU) patients. It can lead to negative outcomes and longer hospital stays, thus increasing hospital costs. Despite national recommendations for daily assessment of delirium, it remains underdiagnosed. Many studies point to a lack of knowledge among health care professionals to accurately detect and manage ICU delirium. The aim of our study was to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of Palestinian health care professionals regarding ICU delirium. The results of a cross-section observational study revealed that delirium appears to be often underrecognized or misdiagnosed in ICUs in Palestine. Therefore, it is critical to further educate the medical and nursing teams and to promote the use of validated tools that can aid in the assessment of this condition. In this way, the length of hospital stays and related health care costs can be reduced.

Effect of thiamine supplementation in critically ill patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Several studies have previously shown the benefit of thiamine supplementation in critically ill patients. In order to fully appraise the available data, we performed a meta-analysis of 18 published studies. A thorough systematic search was conducted. The studies enrolling critically ill patients receiving thiamine supplementation was compared with the standard of care (SOC) group. Data was analyzed using RevMan 5.4. Clinical outcomes were pooled using Odds Ratio (OR) and mean differences. Eighteen studies (8 RCTs and 10 cohort studies) met the criteria for quantitative synthesis. In the analysis of RCTs, thiamine supplementation showed 42% lower odds of developing ICU delirium (OR 0.58, 95% CI, 0.34-0.98). A reduction in mortaliy was observed on performing fixed effect model analysis however, a level of statistical significance could not be reached on performing random effect model analysis (OR, 0.78; 95% CI, 0.59 to 1.04). Further sub-group analysis of 13 studies in patients with sepsis, there was no difference in mortality between the two groups (OR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.63 to 1.09). Thiamine supplementation in critically ill patients showed a reduction in the incidence of ICU delirium among RCTs. However, there was no significant benefit in terms of overall mortality, and mortality in patients with sepsis. Further, large scale randomized prospective studies are warranted to investigate the role of thiamine supplementation in critically ill patients.

A METHOD FOR OBJECTIVE ASSESSMENT OF REST ACTIVITY PATTERNS AND LIGHT LEVELS IN THE ICU

TOPIC: Critical Care TYPE: Original Investigations PURPOSE: Patients in the intensive care unit (ICU), experience disturbed sleep due to environmental factors, as well as critical illness itself. Insufficient and fragmented sleep is linked to increased morbidity, mortality, and ICU length of stay. Despite these correlations, objectively measured sleep and circadian patterns are not routinely examined in ICU patients, and assessment methods are not standardized. In this study, we devised a method to use wrist actigraphy to examine rest-activity patterns and light in a medical ICU. METHODS: As part of an ongoing randomized placebo-controlled trial testing the effect of a sleep medication in preventing ICU delirium, we enrolled patients admitted to the medical ICU at Rhode Island Hospital. Patients were monitored with continuous actigraphy while they were in the ICU. We estimated sleep and wake durations using algorithms validated with polysomnography as well as maximum and average light levels. We summarized data for 2 defined periods across 24-hours based on timing of the investigational sleep aid and ICU routines in our hospital. “Subjective night” was defined from the time of study drug administration to 5:59 AM, and “subjective day” was defined from 6:00 AM to the next study drug treatment time. We used Wilcoxon Signed Ranks Tests to compare sleep and light measured between subjective night and day. RESULTS: Fifty-eight patients are included in these analyses, 45% of which are women. The mean age was 61 years, and the mean APACHE II score was 21. The mean actigraphy-recording days was 4.3. Median duration of subjective night was 513 minutes (IQR=472-526), and of subjective day was 708 minutes, (IQR=537-793; Z=-5.922, p<.0001). Patients spent a higher percentage of the subjective night asleep compared to subjective day (53.7% (IQR=32.8-72.4) vs. 32.9% (IQR=15.4-50.0), Z=-5.767, p<.0001), but estimated sleep duration did not differ between subjective night and day (median 280 minutes (IQR=175-362) vs. 216 minutes (IQR=82-342), Z=-0.664, p=.519). Mean and maximum illuminance were significantly lower during subjective night than day (median average lux 7.3 (IQR=3.0-14.0) vs. 53.8 (IQR=28.2-87.6), Z=-5.692, p<.0001; median maximum lux 116.8 (IQR=53.5-254.2) vs. 445.0 (311.8-643.4), Z=-4.854, p<.0001). CONCLUSIONS: In our study, estimated sleep percentages were higher during subjective night than day, but patients obtained similar amounts of sleep during the subjective day and night, indicating poor sleep consolidation. While patients experienced low light levels during the night, they also experienced low daytime light levels, potentially contributing to higher risk of circadian dysregulation and nighttime sleep disturbance. CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS: Our results provide evidence of disrupted rest-activity patterns in critically ill patients and of low daytime light levels in the ICU, highlighting the need for continued investigation into interventions to improve sleep quality in the ICU. DISCLOSURES: No relevant relationships by David Baek, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Debasree Banerjee, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Shi-Yo Chen, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Jisoo Lee, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Mitchell Levy, source=Web Response No relevant relationships by Amy Mathew, source=Web Responseauthor royalties relationship with UpToDate Please note: 2016-present Added 04/29/2021 by Katherine Sharkey, source=Web Response, value=Royalty

Exploring Ketamine Analgosedation Use and Its Effect on Incident Delirium in Critically Ill Adults.

OBJECTIVES:Ketamine is increasingly being used for analgosedation, but its effect on delirium remains unclear. We compared delirium risk variables and ketamine analgosedation use between adults who developed incident delirium and those who did not, evaluated whether ketamine analgosedation increases delirium risk, and compared ICU delirium characteristics, treatments, and outcomes between ketamine and nonketamine patients with delirium.DESIGN:Secondary, subgroup analysis of a cohort study.SETTING:Single, 36-bed mixed medical-surgical ICU in the Netherlands from July 2016 to February 2020.PATIENTS:Consecutive adults were included. Patients admitted after elective surgery, not expected to survive greater than or equal to 48 hours, admitted with delirium, or where delirium occurred prior to ketamine use were excluded.INTERVENTION:None.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Trained ICU nurses evaluated patients without coma (Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale. –4/–5) every 8 hours with the Confusion Assessment Method ICU; a delirium day was defined by greater than or equal to1 + Confusion Assessment Method ICU and/or scheduled antipsychotic use. Among 11 variables compared between the delirium and nondelirium groups (Baseline: age, Charlson Comorbidity score, cognitive impairment, admission type, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation-IV score, daily ICU [until delirium occurrence or discharge]: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, coma, benzodiazepine, opioid, and ketamine use) and total ICU days, 7 (age, Charlson score, Sequential Organ Failure Assessment score, coma, benzodiazepine, opioid, and ketamine use) were significantly different and were entered, along with delirium occurrence, in a logistic regression model. A total of 332 of 925 of patients (36%) developed delirium. Ketamine use was greater in patients with delirium (54 [16%] vs 4 [0.7%]; p < 0.01). Ketamine use (adjusted odds ratio, 5.60; 95% CI, 1.09–29.15), age (adjusted odds ratio, 1.03; 95% CI, 1.01–1.06), coma (adjusted odds ratio, 2.10; 95% CI, 1.15–3.78), opioid use (adjusted odds ratio, 171.17; 95% CI, 66.45–553.68), and benzodiazepine use (adjusted odds ratio, 34.07; 95% CI, 8.12–235.34) were each independently and significantly associated with increased delirium. Delirium duration, motoric subtype, delirium treatments, and outcomes were not different between the ketamine and nonketamine groups.CONCLUSIONS:Ketamine analgosedation may contribute to increased ICU delirium. The characteristics of ketamine and nonketamine delirium are similar. Further prospective research is required to evaluate the magnitude of risk for delirium with ketamine use.

Letter Regarding "Prevalence and Factors Affecting Postoperative Delirium in a Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit".

Questions or comments about this article may be directed to Fu-Shan Xue, MD, at [email protected]; [email protected]. F.-S.X. is an Anesthesiologist and a Professor, Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Ying-Gang Xiao, RN, is PACU Nurse and Anesthetist Nurse, Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. Liu-Jia-Zi Shao, MD, is Anesthesiologist and Attending Physician, Department of Anesthesiology, Beijing Friendship Hospital, Capital Medical University, Beijing, China. The authors declare no conflicts of interest. Author Contributions: All authors had carefully read the manuscript of Kose et al and analyzed their methods and data. Y.-G.X. suggested the comment points and drafted the manuscript. L.-J.-Z.S. revised the comment points and the manuscript. F.-S.X. critically revised the comment points and the manuscript, and authored the manuscript. All authors had seen and approved the final manuscript.

Delirium in Critically Ill Patients with and without COVID-19—A Retrospective Analysis

Background: Delirium complicating the course of Intensive care unit (ICU) therapy is a known driver of morbidity and mortality. It has been speculated that infection with the neurotrophic SARS-CoV-2 might promote delirium. Methods: Retrospective registry analysis including all patients treated at least 48 h on a medical intensive care unit. The primary endpoint was development of delirium as diagnosed by Nursing Delirium screening scale ≥2. Results were confirmed by propensity score matching. Results: 542 patients were included. The primary endpoint was reached in 352/542 (64.9%) patients, without significant differences between COVID-19 patients and non-COVID-19 patients (51.4% and 65.9%, respectively, p = 0.07) and correlated with prolonged ICU stay in both groups. In a subgroup of patients with ICU stay >10 days delirium was significantly lower in COVID-19 patients (p ≤ 0.01). After adjustment for confounders, COVID-19 correlated independently with less ICU delirium (p ≤ 0.01). In the propensity score matched cohort, patients with COVID-19 had significantly lower delirium incidence compared to the matched control patients (p ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: Delirium is frequent in critically ill patients with and without COVID-19 treated at an intensive care unit. Data suggests that COVID-19 itself is not a driver of delirium per se.

Outcome, demography and resource utilization in ICU Patients with delirium and malignancy

Delirium in the general intensive care unit (ICU) population is common, associated with adverse outcomes and well studied. However, knowledge on delirium in the increasing number of ICU patients with malignancy is scarce. The aim was to assess the frequency of delirium and its impact on resource utilizations and outcomes in ICU patients with malignancy. This retrospective, single-center longitudinal cohort study included all patients with malignancy admitted to ICUs of a University Hospital during one year. Delirium was diagnosed by an Intensive Care Delirium Screening Checklist (ICDSC) score ≥ 4. Of 488 ICU patients with malignancy, 176/488 (36%) developed delirium. Delirious patients were older (66 [55–72] vs. 61 [51–69] years, p = 0.001), had higher SAPS II (41 [27–68] vs. 24 [17–32], p < 0.001) and more frequently sepsis (26/176 [15%] vs. 6/312 [1.9%], p < 0.001) and/or shock (30/176 [6.1%] vs. 6/312 [1.9%], p < 0.001). In multivariate analysis, delirium was independently associated with lower discharge home (OR [95% CI] 0.37 [0.24–0.57], p < 0.001), longer ICU (HR [95% CI] 0.30 [0.23–0.37], p < 0.001) and hospital length of stay (HR [95% CI] 0.62 [0.50–0.77], p < 0.001), longer mechanical ventilation (HR [95% CI] 0.40 [0.28–0.57], p < 0.001), higher ICU nursing workload (B [95% CI] 1.92 [1.67–2.21], p < 0.001) and ICU (B [95% CI] 2.08 [1.81–2.38], p < 0.001) and total costs (B [95% CI] 1.44 [1.30–1.60], p < 0.001). However, delirium was not independently associated with in-hospital mortality (OR [95% CI] 2.26 [0.93–5.54], p = 0.074). In conclusion, delirium was a frequent complication in ICU patients with malignancy independently associated with high resource utilizations, however, it was not independently associated with in-hospital mortality.

Encephalopathy and Delirium

Delirium occurs commonly in critically ill patients. ICU delirium is associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality, increased ICU length of stay, and long-term cognitive deficits in these patients. There are significant health-care costs associated with ICU delirium. Delirium is often overlooked in patients when assessed by clinicians based on clinical judgment alone. The use of a validated delirium assessment tool increases delirium detection rates in patients. ICU delirium is a multifactorial process. Nonmodifiable risk factors include age, dementia, prior coma, emergency surgery or trauma, and a high severity of illness. Modifiable risk factors include benzodiazepine use and blood transfusions. There is no evidence to support the use of any pharmacologic agent for either the prevention or treatment of ICU delirium. Antipsychotics should only be used for symptom management in ICU patients with delirium, and then discontinued when no longer needed. The mainstay of delirium management should be a multi-component, non-pharmacologic strategy aimed at minimizing risk factors. One such multimodal strategy, the ABCDEF Bundle, can significantly decrease the incidence of ICU delirium. Additional research is needed to better understand the pathophysiology and management of ICU delirium. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, and 51 references Keywords: Delirium, Encephalopathy, Intensive Care, Outcomes, ABCDEF Bundle, ICU Liberation.

Encephalopathy and Delirium

Delirium occurs commonly in critically ill patients. ICU delirium is associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality, increased ICU length of stay, and long-term cognitive deficits in these patients. There are significant health-care costs associated with ICU delirium. Delirium is often overlooked in patients when assessed by clinicians based on clinical judgment alone. The use of a validated delirium assessment tool increases delirium detection rates in patients. ICU delirium is a multifactorial process. Nonmodifiable risk factors include age, dementia, prior coma, emergency surgery or trauma, and a high severity of illness. Modifiable risk factors include benzodiazepine use and blood transfusions. There is no evidence to support the use of any pharmacologic agent for either the prevention or treatment of ICU delirium. Antipsychotics should only be used for symptom management in ICU patients with delirium, and then discontinued when no longer needed. The mainstay of delirium management should be a multi-component, non-pharmacologic strategy aimed at minimizing risk factors. One such multimodal strategy, the ABCDEF Bundle, can significantly decrease the incidence of ICU delirium. Additional research is needed to better understand the pathophysiology and management of ICU delirium. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, and 51 references Keywords: Delirium, Encephalopathy, Intensive Care, Outcomes, ABCDEF Bundle, ICU Liberation.

Encephalopathy and Delirium

Delirium occurs commonly in critically ill patients. ICU delirium is associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality, increased ICU length of stay, and long-term cognitive deficits in these patients. There are significant health-care costs associated with ICU delirium. Delirium is often overlooked in patients when assessed by clinicians based on clinical judgment alone. The use of a validated delirium assessment tool increases delirium detection rates in patients. ICU delirium is a multifactorial process. Nonmodifiable risk factors include age, dementia, prior coma, emergency surgery or trauma, and a high severity of illness. Modifiable risk factors include benzodiazepine use and blood transfusions. There is no evidence to support the use of any pharmacologic agent for either the prevention or treatment of ICU delirium. Antipsychotics should only be used for symptom management in ICU patients with delirium, and then discontinued when no longer needed. The mainstay of delirium management should be a multi-component, non-pharmacologic strategy aimed at minimizing risk factors. One such multimodal strategy, the ABCDEF Bundle, can significantly decrease the incidence of ICU delirium. Additional research is needed to better understand the pathophysiology and management of ICU delirium. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, and 51 references Keywords: Delirium, Encephalopathy, Intensive Care, Outcomes, ABCDEF Bundle, ICU Liberation.

Encephalopathy and Delirium

Delirium occurs commonly in critically ill patients. ICU delirium is associated with increased short-term and long-term mortality, increased ICU length of stay, and long-term cognitive deficits in these patients. There are significant health-care costs associated with ICU delirium. Delirium is often overlooked in patients when assessed by clinicians based on clinical judgment alone. The use of a validated delirium assessment tool increases delirium detection rates in patients. ICU delirium is a multifactorial process. Nonmodifiable risk factors include age, dementia, prior coma, emergency surgery or trauma, and a high severity of illness. Modifiable risk factors include benzodiazepine use and blood transfusions. There is no evidence to support the use of any pharmacologic agent for either the prevention or treatment of ICU delirium. Antipsychotics should only be used for symptom management in ICU patients with delirium, and then discontinued when no longer needed. The mainstay of delirium management should be a multi-component, non-pharmacologic strategy aimed at minimizing risk factors. One such multimodal strategy, the ABCDEF Bundle, can significantly decrease the incidence of ICU delirium. Additional research is needed to better understand the pathophysiology and management of ICU delirium. This review contains 5 figures, 7 tables, and 51 references Keywords: Delirium, Encephalopathy, Intensive Care, Outcomes, ABCDEF Bundle, ICU Liberation.

Social Determinants of Health and Delirium Occurrence and Duration in Critically Ill Adults.

OBJECTIVES:Social determinants of health may affect ICU outcome, but the association between social determinants of health and delirium remains unclear. We evaluated the association between three social determinants of health and delirium occurrence and duration in critically ill adults.DESIGN:Secondary, subgroup analysis of a cohort study.SETTING:Single, 36-bed mixed medical-surgical ICU in the Netherlands.PATIENTS:Nine hundred fifty-six adults consecutively admitted from July 2016 to February 2020. Patients admitted after elective surgery, residing in a nursing home, or not expected to survive greater than or equal to 48 hours were excluded.INTERVENTION:None.MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS:Four factors related to three Center for Disease Control social determinants of health domains (social/community context [ethnicity], education access/quality [educational level], and economic stability [employment status and monthly income]) were collected at ICU admission from patients (or families). Well-trained ICU nurses evaluated patients without coma (Richmond Agitation Sedation Scale, –4, –5) and with the Confusion Assessment Method-ICU and/or a delirium day was defined by greater than or equal to 1 + Confusion Assessment Method-ICU and/or scheduled antipsychotic use. Multivariable logistic regression models controlling for ICU days and 10 delirium risk variables (before-ICU: age, Charlson, cognitive impairment, any antidepressant, antipsychotic, or benzodiazepine use; ICU baseline: Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation IV and admission type; daily ICU: Sequential Organ Failure Assessment, restraint use, coma, benzodiazepine, or opioid use) evaluated associations between each social determinant of health factor and both ICU delirium occurrence and duration. Delirium occurred in 393/956 patients (45.4%) for 2 days (1–5 d). Patients with low (vs high) income had more ICU delirium (p = 0.05). Multivariate analyses revealed no social determinants of health to be significantly associated with increased delirium occurrence or duration. Low (vs high) income was weakly associated with increased delirium occurrence (adjusted odds ratio, 1.83; 95% CI, 0.91–3.89). Low (vs high) education (adjusted relative risk, 1.21; 95% CI, 0.97–1.53) was weakly associated with a longer delirium duration.CONCLUSIONS:Social determinants of health did not affect ICU delirium in one Dutch region. Additional research across different countries/regions and where additional social determinants of health are considered is needed to define the association between social determinants of health and ICU delirium.

Development and Implementation of a Multicomponent Protocol to Promote Sleep and Reduce Delirium in a Medical Intensive Care Unit

Evidence suggests that poor sleep increases risk of delirium. Because delirium is associated with poor outcomes, institutions have developed protocols to improve sleep in critically ill patients. To assess the impact of implementing a multicomponent sleep protocol. In this prospective, preimplementation and postimplementation evaluation, adult patients admitted to the medical intensive care unit (ICU) over 42 days were included. Outcomes evaluated included median delirium-free days, median Richards-Campbell Sleep Questionnaire (RCSQ) score, median optimal sleep nights, duration of mechanical ventilation (MV), ICU and hospital length of stay (LOS), and in-hospital mortality. The preimplementation group included 78 patients and postimplementation group, 84 patients. There was no difference in median delirium-free days (1 day [interquartile range, IQR, = 0-2.5] vs 1 day [IQR = 0-2]; P = 0.48), median RCSQ score (59.4 [IQR = 43.2-71.6] vs 61.2 [IQR = 49.9-75.5]; P = 0.20), median optimal sleep nights (1 night [IQR = 0-2] vs 1 night [IQR = 0-2]; P = 0.95), and in-hospital mortality (16.7% vs 17.9%, P = 1.00). Duration of MV (8 days [IQR = 4-10] vs 4 days [IQR = 2-7]; P = 0.03) and hospital LOS (13 days [IQR = 7-22.3] vs 8 days [IQR = 6-17]; P = 0.05) were shorter in the postimplementation group, but both were similar between groups after adjusting for age and severity of illness. This report demonstrates that implementation of a multicomponent sleep protocol in everyday ICU care is feasible, but limitations exist when evaluating impact on measurable outcomes. Additional evaluations are needed to identify the most meaningful interventions and best practices for quantifying impact on patient outcomes.

Assessment of preoperative frailty and identification of patients at risk for postoperative delirium in cardiac intensive care units: a prospective observational study.

Postoperative delirium (POD) is a common complication that may occur from 24 to 72 h after cardiac surgery. Frailty is a chronic syndrome that leads to a decline in physiological reserve and to disability. The associations between frailty and POD are unclear. To investigate associations between POD and frailty in patients undergoing cardiac surgery and to analyse predictors of POD. Convenience sampling was used to recruit 152 patients who underwent cardiac surgery in two medical centres in northern Taiwan. Preoperative frailty in these patients was evaluated using Fried's frailty phenotype. Delirium in patients was assessed from postoperative day 1 to day 5 using the confusion assessment method for intensive care units. A total of 152 patients who underwent cardiac surgery included 68 (44.74%) prefrail patients and 21 (13.81%) patients with frailty after the surgery. Ten patients (6.58%) developed delirium after cardiac surgery. The occurrence of delirium peaked at postoperative day 2, and the average duration of delirium was 3 days. A case-control comparison revealed a significant correlation between preoperative frailty and POD. Significant predictors of POD in patients undergoing cardiac surgery included the European System for Cardiac Operative Risk Evaluation II, preoperative arrhythmia, and preoperative anxiety and depression. Preoperative frailty was correlated with POD. Preoperative arrhythmia, anxiety, and depression are predictors of POD. Nurses should perform preoperative assessments of surgical risk and physiological and psychological conditions of patients undergoing cardiac surgery and monitor the occurrence of POD.