DETERMINANTS OF POSTOPERATIVE DELIRIUM: ASSESSMENT OF RISK FACTORS

Abstract

Postoperative delirium (POD) remains a common, dangerous, and resource-consuming adverse event, but it is often preventable. POD is a common and serious complication, especially in elderly patients undergoing surgery. Objective: to review the current literature on the relationship between risk factors for postoperative delirium. Materials and methods: This is an integrative review of the literature, including research in the electronic database PubMed. To search for articles, the descriptors “postoperative anesthesia”, “delirium” and “risk factor” were used. The delimitation of the research time frame began in the year 2022 until April 2024. Eight articles were found to compose the review Results and discussion: The LIU, Xiao-Hong study identified several influential risk factors for POD, including age, height, sex, preoperative and postoperative erythrocyte sedimentation rate levels, preoperative lactate levels. -operative conditions, pain scores the day after surgery, type of surgical procedure and the presence of delirium in the post-anesthesia care unit Post-operative delirium affects up to 50% of hospitalized surgical patients and is associated with increased morbidity and. mortality, postoperative cognitive decline, poor functional recovery, prolonged hospitalization, higher hospital readmission rates and increased expenditure on healthcare resources Conclusion: Sex, age, education, smoking, history of delirium, perioperative blood loss, being institutionalized, having comorbidities, polypharmacy and duration of surgery/anesthesia were independently associated with postoperative delirium.