Postoperative delirium. A window to quality improvement and safety in the care of surgical patients Postoperative delirium or acute confusional state is a common complication among older subjects. Many factors infl uence its appearance, such as preexistent problems of the patient, medication use, pain, the perioperative anesthetic management and the intensity of the infl ammatory reaction to surgical trauma. Its consequences are a longer hospital stay, higher risk of complications and a long term derangement of functional status and cognitive performance. The management of delirium is multifactorial, including the avoidance of precipitating factors, the maintenance of an adequate environment and the conscious use of neuroleptics. The prevention of delirium should be a priority that will improve health care standards.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.